Does it Matter?

Does it Really Matter that the Super Bowl is Finally Here?

Yes. Yes it does.

Why, you ask? Seriously, why, you ask again? Given all of the recent proclamations, executive orders, and zone flooding, why would anyone devote a second of our shaken lives to a football game between highly paid (amazing) athletes, among highly paid executives from just about every industry (including the horrible, no good, nasty food industry), and our elected officials, not to mention billionaires?

Because the spectacle of the Super Bowl is THE SINGLE MOST VIEWED BROADCAST EVENT our good ol' USofA participates in every year. Over 120 million viewers (notwithstanding it now has international appeal and international viewers) ladies and gents. 120M. We only have about 260M Americans between the age of 18-65. Nearly half of them will be viewing the Super Bowl.

According to https://hiddentribes.us/, much our populace falls into a group named "The Exhausted Majority." In fact, it is estimated that they are 67% of us. Who are they?

Well, without getting too much into the weeds (you can read the report on the webpage above), "most members of the Exhausted Majority aren’t political centrists or moderates. On specific issues, their views range across the spectrum. But while they hold a variety of views, the members of the Exhausted Majority are also?united in important ways:

• They are?fed up?with the polarization plaguing American government and society
• They are often?forgotten?in the public discourse, overlooked because their voices are seldom heard
• They are?flexible?in their views, willing to endorse different policies according to the precise situation rather than sticking ideologically to a single set of beliefs
• They believe we can?find common ground."

Now, I don't know what percentage of Super Bowl viewers are in the Exhausted Majority, but I'll bet (on the EAGLES!) that it is a sizeable overlap. Oh, just for fun let's say 80 Million.

The SUPER BOWL is THE common ground in our culture right now. Even if only for a few hours. Nearly half of us watch it, and only a tiny fraction can claim that they are really a die-hard fan of one team or another. WHICH MEANS most people watch it, in spite of their team NOT EVEN PLAYING. We watch because we like it. We understand it. We gather around to watch with others. It is common ground. Wait, what? What did you say? It is common ground?

While it does not prove a damn thing, it certainly suggests that there is a LARGE group of citizenry that can find common ground and does so every single year. Even if it is something as meritless, pointless, wasteful, and downright bizarre as an game of adult men bashing their heads. Even if only to reach over for the nachos and accidentally spilling a beer.

So, yes, it matters that the SUPER BOWL is finally here. We can prove to ourselves that even in the middle of overwhelming bits of information and implications, we have common ground.

In a poignant and striking article by Jonathan Haidt https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/05/social-media-democracy-trust-babel/629369/ (sorry about the pay wall), the author points out that Americans have a NASTY habit of "forming voluntary associations to fix local problems, rather than waiting for kings or noble to act."

We do what??? We form voluntary associations with each other???

We cannot expect kings to save us. In fact, we might expect the opposite.

This morning I joined a local volunteer group seeking to understand and formulate a strategy to fix a local issue that is broken. It was not at all stunning how different we all were politically, but stunning to find out how much we have in common. AND how quickly we found common ground. I look forward to doing more with this group.

Three years ago, I made a personal and public commitment to only do things that I deem absolutely necessary. I walked into an unknown retirement life (putting myself and my family's good future in doubt and in jeopardy) in order to focus on the things that truly mattered to me. The following year, I made a commitment to transition away from full retirement into projects that would unlock and unleash the physician potential by contributing through writing, speaking, lecturing, and teaching. This year (this very morning, in fact) I have just decided what the next phase will be. I am committing myself to bringing people to together to tell stories, to tell truth, and to find common ground. As part of that commitment to finding common ground, I will focus on the local. Where the real solutions happen. Sure, sometimes I will make a comment on a national issue, but with the intent to be solution based, tactically worthy, and problem solving. Not just diagnostic, blaming, or (hopefully, never) shouting into the void. I hate echo chambers, to be honest. And I do not pretend for a millisecond that I live in a bubble. I have never forgotten where I came from and where I will ultimately end up.

I will also do the same inside the physician community (i.e. The House of Medicine) and beyond when feasible. Someone else will have to manage all of the raging societal structures that continue to block our greatest collective potentials.

Our greatest asset is that there are a whole lot of us. And quantity has its own quality (so taught to me by a friend and mentor).

If you catch me overstating opinion, overstating conjecture, over-using any type of bully tactic, on this platform (or anywhere else for that matter), call me out. HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE. We need less shouting and more solving. Start tonight when you tune in to the game. Realize how many are EXHAUSTED and how many of us have many things in common and want COMMON GROUND to stand upon. Then, tomorrow, make a tiny commitment to a local cause that may change the community in which you live. And maybe as community members find out how much they really do have in common with each other, they can realize what it would mean to hold others accountable, particularly those who hold power.

Last thing (I promise!) before pre-game and kickoff...I reconnected with an old neighbor and deep thinker. One for whom I have deep respect and followed and watched his career ebb and flow with the tides. One who always sent me a birthday card. Even I was lousy at reciprocating.

He is at a pivotal moment in his career. When we reconnected, I asked him if there was anything that I could do for him. And he said, "Tell me the truth. Not what I want to hear, or even what you think I want to hear. Tell me the plain ol' truth." He could be manipulating me. Bullsh*tting me, even. But I will choose to accept his offer and to grant him the truth, in hopes we find some common ground.

Go Eagles!