Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Moving Left

Tags

Conservative, Curiosity.com, Documentaries, Learning, left, Liberal, right, school

The weather is sticky today in Michigan. Dad had a hearing aid appointment, and Bella (our dog) and I are holding down the fort. Today, I’ve got some homework to do, my exercise routine, reading, taking a class, and all the rest. I’m in my last class for a Masters in Sociology. Why college, when I’m retired?

I love to learn. I don’t take student loans. I pay cash for my courses and materials. I also attend online, so I don’t have any commuting to do. It’s a good feeling to knock out a degree. I just enjoy reading broadly. When I left the Army I was pretty conservative (politically). Over time, however, I have moved more left. I have experienced a great deal in my life, and have opened my mind a great deal, particularly because of the assignments and reading in school.

Have I been indoctrinated, like so many conservatives would posit? No. When you read broadly, however, you take time to hear the arguments of the other side. Instead of being close-minded, like so many on the social media feeds, who are constantly bashing the other side, I have discovered that both sides of the political aisle have legitimate positions. Compromise, however, left our political discourse years ago. You just do not see it anymore. Maybe some of our elected officials should go back to school? (Ha)!

What’s the message of today’s posting? Read broadly and continue to educate yourself. You are not too old to learn new things. We are always learning new things anyway. Why not learn something specific? I try to learn something new each week. I like learning about other people, who I post about on my Wisdom Wednesday article. I like to watch documentaries. You just pick up so much stuff when you watch a good documentary. I really enjoy the documentaries on history. I would recommend curiosity.com for my documentaries. This is one terrific channel and it only costs $20 USD a year.

Well, that’s it for my Motivation Monday posting! I hope you have a terrific day!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesdays – Finding the Best Way Forward

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Conservative, Democrat, Global Challenges, Issues, JFK, Liberal, Politics, Republican, SOTU

“Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.” – John F. Kennedy

Read more at: Brainy Quotes

The President of the United States delivered the State of the Union address last night. 76% of the American people approved of his speech. For those readers who are not from the United States, the State of the Union (SOTU on Twitter) is delivered by the President at the first part of the year, typically at the end of January. This year it was delivered late because of the U.S. Government’s shutdown.

JFK got it right. The only way to make progress in any government is to deliberate, debate, and compromise. Finger pointing, name calling, and all the rest will never deliver the results any country on the globe wishes to make to improve the lives of its citizens. The only way forward is to engage each other in dialogue, working through the issues, weighing what’s right or wrong, and pushing legislation forward that serves the people of the nation(s) it is being created for.

We all have our political slants. We all have a vision of where our respective countries need to move forward. It is so easy to get aligned with one side of the political spectrum and attack the other side. If you find yourself getting too stressed out when watching the news or a political talk show, take stock of yourself. The news outlets of today are designed to stress you out. The news is designed to frighten, create conflicts out of nothing, and support one side or another. If you find yourself in this situation, simply walk away. Take a break from it. That being said, be tolerant and educate yourself.

Read the legislation that is in consideration. Listen and read about these issues from a variety of sources. You’ll have a well-rounded view about what is about to take place and truly understand the issue. Understand both sides of an issue, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each. If you can do that, you will be in the unique position of understanding why your position works because you can argue the other side’s views as good or better than they can.

There are many issues we all face in the years to come. The challenges of Global Warming, Terrorism, Poverty, Disease, Technology, and Human Trafficking. These challenges will be met and beaten by an educated citizenry who elect people who are truly deserving of the political posts they are running for.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Ted Talk Tuesday

Tags

Balance, Conservative, Improving our World, Jonathan Haidt, Liberal, Stepping out of the Matrix, Ted Talk

If you have not read any of Jonathan Haidt’s work, you should look into this. This Ted Talk discusses the primary differences between Conservative and Liberal thought and demonstrates the need for both ideologies to move our world forward. This is really fascinating stuff.

Have a great Tuesday folks!

Until next time…

Dave