[February 17, 2017] I was talking with my wife the other night about underrated topics in casual conversations among friends. She has a keen eye, far better than me, for those tidbits. One thing she found particularly galling was that most talk was not about fun times but almost exclusively about political issues. Friends were more interested in discussing what a politician did or how divided they were rather than about how those same politicians could motivate people to work together.
Whether in casual conversation among friends, Facebook posts, Twitter feeds, or text messages, it seems that everything is now seen through a political lens. My wife stopped altogether reading her Facebook page and she does not want to now learn how Twitter and other social media works. And she’s not the only one who avoids political talking points when she tells me, correctly, that we all should get back to the business of living well.
“I know of no single formula for success. But over the years I have observed that some attributes of leadership are universal and are often about finding ways of encouraging people to combine their efforts, their talents, their insights, their enthusiasm and their inspiration to work together.” – Queen Elizabeth II, United Kingdom queen since 1952
My wife is no prude; she grew up on the tough streets of Brooklyn, New York where she had more than her share of fights with other girls. On a side note, she won each of the many after her brother taught her correctly how to fight with her fists. There are many who want to see us divided among racial, gender, ethnic, sexual orientation, and religious lines. There is the belief that by dividing us it somehow induces us to vote for a particular candidate.
Sadly, many have taken the bait and now look at the world politically at every turn. It’s sad because these people, friends and family of mine, are more unhappy now than I can remember. Why this is happening is apparent for anyone who reads or sees the media doing their part to transmit the political message and participating by adding their own divisive ideology.
What is being missed, unfortunately, is leadership at the political levels throughout America that holds us together rather than pushing us away from who we are. Those core values of Americans that define us are many and while there is no firm consensus on what they all are, family is at the heart of it and what we do just as “liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is in our blood.
Any leader that brings us together will do so outside the political rhetoric that we hear so often and read about daily. Those that do will be looked upon as having great leadership qualities as discussed here in this blog; just like those we revere so much in our history.
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