"I Hate You - Let's Talk": The State of the Union

First in a series.

I recently listened to Bernie Sanders' book (Audible) "It's OK to be Angry About Capitalism." It's a great book. The reading was the result of an exchange I had where capitalism was bashed by a somewhat "woke" individual who, in my opinion, needed to be "woke" about capitalism.

Mind you, I have 100% respect and confidence in this person, so I took the exchange very seriously. Serious enough to listen to a 7-hour Bernie Sanders rant, which, by the way, was very good. If you ever want a history lesson on the actual/factual events of the last 70 years, on the pros/cons and cons of governance, I strongly recommend the read. This journey down the rabbit hole of "truth" made me think deeply about the state of our country. Specifically, the ever-spiraling carnival ride we are taking down today's societal clash between people of color and white supremacists, ultra-factionalism, capitalism, socialism, and authoritarianism. Democracy and autocracy.

Seems like there are a lot of sides to be taking these days.

And taking sides does not seem to be enough. Nope. We have to take an extreme side. It's not "I disagree with you, let's work out a solution." It's "YOU'RE wrong… This is the only right way… here are the real facts" (even if they are total unadulterated BS). It's "I can't stand the way this is. I am angry as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore - "Howard Beale in the 1976 film Network" I HATE YOU!

Yup. The tone is one of HATE. And in the same breath, it's coupled with "Let's engage." Because without engagement, the "hater" has no audience. Without engagement, there is no point to be taken, no win to WIN! And in this extremist environment, there is no middle ground for "making a deal." There's only “my way or the highway”. This is an environment where the loudest voice wins, and that means the most viewers, the most outrageous newscaster, the loudest spokesman, the “BIG LIE”.

Well, here's the thing, my dear friends. There is NO WINNER in this game. There's only bashing your forearm against the chessboard, spewing all the pieces across the room, and slamming the opponent with the board across the face in a democratic destroying smash… or should I say “smash and grab”.

We are not leaving room on the table for discussion. This is WW3 kind of posturing, and can you believe those 3 letters have been in the news recently?

Only in this severely segregated climate of thought could such an unimaginable thought be said out loud… no less by LEADERS!

We are all headed down the rabbit hole, and this one ends in the center of the earth amongst molten, red, and yellow swirling core where the world burns us alive. Pretty gruesome. But that's where "I HATE YOU" takes you. And "Woke," or "uber this" or "that," or "supremacy," or "CERTAIN LIVES MATTER" as opposed to "ALL LIVES MATTER" takes us.

It's time to take the pedal off the metal, to get less extreme, to value truth above most everything other than the "I love you's" and "how can I help you's" of the world.

It's time to moderate and understand that extreme solutions only end up with no solution and the best solutions are negotiated partial moves that end up paying huge returns in the end. It’s time for us to inch forward using the tools at hand.

To moderately make changes to the climate. To seek greater equality in incomes and opportunities, to allow our children to learn what they want… not burn books in the courtyard. They are the brightest among us. Have faith in their ability to figure it out.

Put the books back on the shelves.

Be OK for the CEO to make 100 times as much as the average employee instead of 400 times as much. More for the employee. Less for the CEO but still a damn good living.

For the workforce to be respected.

For teams to be made up based on skill, enthusiasm, and desire to go the extra mile.

For all people to be able to provide with dignity to their families... be sheltered, fed and cared for when ill or old.

For opportunity to reward and "willingness to serve" be honored.

They say we are in trouble due to AI. That it will solve all problems by taking us humans out of the equation. Good news my friends. AI can’t solve this. Creativity, innovation, moderation, compromise, and well-thought through intentions will. And that’s something only we humans can conjure up at the moment.

My vote is for “I Love you” “How can I help” “let’s chat and discuss.”