• Writing Our New Story Together - From Divide-and-Conquer to Unite and Thrive

  • Dec 19 2024
  • Length: 58 mins
  • Podcast

Writing Our New Story Together - From Divide-and-Conquer to Unite and Thrive

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  • “Truth lives in our hearts. Beliefs lie in our heads.” – Swami BeyondanandaSome years ago I wrote an article for a progressive publication about Fox News and their propensity for spreading outright lies. I called the article “Come On Baby, Fight My Liar,” and I ended it by saying that conservatives obviously like being lied to – whereas progressives prefer lying to themselves.Needless to say, I got some pushback on the piece – and also some knowing nods of “yes, I know exactly what you mean.”What did I mean?Well, I had just been with a group of people where someone brought up the idea that the 911 Twin Tower attacks might have been an inside job. In response, one woman said – with a completely straight face – “Oh, no. If it had been an inside job I would have heard about it on NPR.”I think back over the past couple of decades when I presented some inconvenient truth that was outside the comfort zone of some of the spiritually-inclined folks I knew. They would put up their hand and say, “I don’t want to go there.”And my response would be, “Too late. THERE has already come HERE.”For years, I have watched otherwise compassionate, intelligent people take comfort in the phrase, “conspiracy theory” – the all-purpose catch-all that takes folks off the hook from having to look the heart of darkness in the face.It’s still operative, although I take heart that there are people waking up. I’m also cognizant of the old Navajo saying, “You can’t awaken someone pretending to be asleep.”So I will give you an updated example. Shortly before Thanksgiving, I published a piece on “How the Right Got Right, and the Left Got Left” – surprisingly I got only one piece of negative feedback from a reader who voiced her opinion in one word: Goodbye.In other words, I was canceled, which seems to be the go-to strategy of those unwilling to face a bigger reality than the one they are habituated to. Speaking of “canceled”, I was a bit shocked – although not surprised – to get two very similar emails from two women in response to that same post. One woman wrote:“THANK YOU SO MUCH...It’s refreshing to hear you say what I also think myself but have not the courage to speak out and then have to endure the wrath of the progressives I know. I was fairly traumatized by the reactions I got from dear old friends during the ‘scamdemic’ for questioning and not getting jabbed.” And from the other woman:“I would be very afraid to tell any of my friends or family that I voted for Trump because I would probably be ostracized. Same as for my stance on the poison shot. My friends and family have all gotten COVID and are still getting it even with the shot and the boosters.”“It's nice to know that I'm not alone in my thinking which seems to coincide with your views. You are a very brave man to put those thoughts out there. I guess I am a coward keeping all those kinds of thoughts to myself. Keep on keeping on, you brave souls!!” Please allow this to sink in.Inside the corral of the party dedicated to “saving democracy,” the issue of free speech never comes up – because people have learned to self-censor, or else.Talk about irony deficiency!And that brings us to this week’s Front and Center podcast, where we address both the “awful truth” and the awesome opportunity. The opportunity – as I suggested in the “How the Right Got Right …” post – is to leave the safe harbor of inside-the-corral narratives and seek to create a new story together. In other words, step off the political battlefield, and onto a cooperative playing field.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho5QfnhEIFsPlease watch this video where Cenk Uygur – founder of the ultra-progressive podcast Young Turks – suggests that it’s time for left and right to come front and center to create a true populist movement (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD4QVT8ws_8&t=3s). Uygur, who is not at all beholden to the Democratic Party apparatus speaks out about – well, about how difficult it is to speak out. This is surely a sign of the “upwising”, given the opportunity for collaboration around RFK, Jr.’s Make America Healthy Campaign, which largely reiterates progressive talking points from 20 years ago.Mainstream media, meanwhile, continues launching “dismissal attacks” on RFK, Jr. – anything to prevent the Democratic Party faithful from “trance-ending” the trance of separation – and from rallying around the functional aspects of his program. When I hear friends now referring to Bobby as a “sexual predator,” I know the media talking points they are parroting.Once we step up above the battlefield to see a broader view, we take another important step – seeking the whole truth together. This means, releasing our dependence on our side’s narrative and becoming familiar with unfamiliar ideas, so we can discover for ourselves how much of what is ...
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