What I wanted to help the students in my class learn to do was to listen to others, especially those they might disagree with. This process is called “citizen discourse.” Essential for living in democracy, it often seems to be lacking in our conversations.
Discussions are like tennis games, where you go back and forth to win the game. It’s the style of talk radio and television shows, and it’s an oral sparring match. Labeling someone means hindering your own intellectual growth in the process.
The dialogue is different, especially if you disagree with the other person’s claim, because you need to be willing to listen to the other person. Dialogue does not require you to submit to a different perspective than your own, but only requires you to learn something.
Politically speaking, I’m more independent, trying to find out equally what the candidates say they believe and how those beliefs are translated into policy. I am not a single voter either. I am trying to look at the candidate’s position on many issues.
The other day I interacted with political conservatives and in the process discovered some ideas that made sense to me. He has called it the foundation of conservative political theory since the beginning of our republic.
First, as Thomas Jefferson wrote, freedom is the most important property of our republic, the “pursuit of life, freedom and happiness,” he said. He pointed out that our First Amendment is the key to what the founders mean by freedom. The right to speak and write freely without fear of retaliation, the freedom of worship of choice, including the separation of the church and the state, and the freedom of the press.
Second, he claimed that conservatives believed in small government. The closer you are to people, the better. In this argument, he said, therefore, it is necessary to limit spending and not build up government bonds that are passed down from generation to generation.
Third, conservatives believed in equal opportunity and said the results were not always equal. Fourth, he suggested to conservatives who believed in the rule of law that no one exceeded the rule of law, and that it should be fair and just.
Fifth, he said, conservatives believe in the balance of power of the government. In a dictatorship, the ruler enacts and is on top of the law. In democracy, the law should be applied equally.
Drinking a cup of coffee, he said he was worried about his political philosophy and state of the nation. He cited the incredible increase in our government bonds, the politicization of our judiciary, the use of religion as a political tool, and the impact of money on our decision-making.
I listened to him rather than speak. I told him what was meaningful to me and what wasn’t. For example, I shared a common commitment to freedom of speech with him, but in the age of the Internet, what are the limits, using the old notion that you are not responsible for blowing fire in crowded cinemas? It suggested that we need to understand, more than just disclosing personal information.
We broke up as friends. We have found some common values and beliefs, and some that separate us. Neither of us raised our voice or labeled others with incompatible tags. We engaged in civic discourse. That is what makes a healthy democratic republic.
John C. Morgan is a writer and columnist.
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September 22, 2021 at 04:48PM
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Everyday Ethics: Achieving Citizen's Discourse - Pennsylvanianewstoday.com
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