Hi This is sorta political, sort of social.... ohwell, G
Sour Grapes and Saddle Sores
George Hirst
Doers of Our Words March 27, 2008
These days the conversations and speeches I hear seem to say that we don't trust anyone, some times not even ourselves. The pundits in the media come straight out, not with information, but with an opinion. Now, I am not saying right or wrong, I am saying an opinion. We all have opinions, which is also all right. We also need to respect the opinions of others. We need to give credit even to the people with whom we do not agree, even with those persons we do not like. In a democracy, it is important that we debate and/or discuss issues in public life. That requires us to agree to disagree. However, one thing is abundantly clear, when November 08 is over, the persons who are elected are ours! We believe in majority rule, when the people have spoken. We need to put our money where our mouths are and work with those elected persons so that the influence of all the voters is kept alive.
The many political speeches/comments that have been made are all very well and good. However one begins to wonder how many times we can stand to hear the same pitch? How soon do we begin to cease believing the words they have used?
We need to say things like: be doers of your words and not speakers only. We need to believe in sayings like: put your money where you mouth is and, talk is cheap. We must stop letting the media and the word merchants be our only source of information. Words of promises and opposition should be followed by actions and qualifications.
There has been a lot of talking about the need for change. I thought for awhile that the campaigns were going to be the start of that change and, for awhile there was a difference in the way candidates presented themselves. Then, the campaign got too long and the positive words and personal qualifications came to be in short supply. Poll reports and speeches became slanted and negative. The public did not like the failures and, so they lost interest in the campaigns.
It is certainly clear that if we are going to change, people who lack experience in the way politics are practiced are essential so that we can make changes. Another way of saying that is, "we need to reinvent the way we do government." Another need is to lay down our guns and find other ways of working out international and cultural differences. Violence must go, and that must begin on the local level, guns do not promote peace. It is too easy to pull the trigger.
When things don't improve, we resort to fault finding and name calling. We need to look for relationships across party lines that will work for positive gain for all of us. Whether we like it or not, we are one world, warts and all, and we can make that one world work for good, providing we learn where our common life is and work from there, rather than insisting on particular beliefs and practices.
It occurs to me that these days we are seeing a lot of volunteerism developing. There a lot of the social services in operation, all the way from food pantries, to home building, help for addicts, help with child rearing, and caring for the elderly. Maybe it is time for volunteer government officials. In my experiences in working to help persons in Stark County, religious practices, where one lives and how one had lived in Stark County did not come into question, it was the presence of a person with skills and concerns that got us going. We still don't have a residential requirement when we help people, we only ask, "what do you need"?, It seems to me that is a good sign that we are already willing and able to be doers of our words.
SourGrapesAndSaddleSores
Sour Grapes and Saddle Sores
George Hirst
Doers of Our Words March 27, 2008
These days the conversations and speeches I hear seem to say that we don't trust anyone, some times not even ourselves. The pundits in the media come straight out, not with information, but with an opinion. Now, I am not saying right or wrong, I am saying an opinion. We all have opinions, which is also all right. We also need to respect the opinions of others. We need to give credit even to the people with whom we do not agree, even with those persons we do not like. In a democracy, it is important that we debate and/or discuss issues in public life. That requires us to agree to disagree. However, one thing is abundantly clear, when November 08 is over, the persons who are elected are ours! We believe in majority rule, when the people have spoken. We need to put our money where our mouths are and work with those elected persons so that the influence of all the voters is kept alive.
The many political speeches/comments that have been made are all very well and good. However one begins to wonder how many times we can stand to hear the same pitch? How soon do we begin to cease believing the words they have used?
We need to say things like: be doers of your words and not speakers only. We need to believe in sayings like: put your money where you mouth is and, talk is cheap. We must stop letting the media and the word merchants be our only source of information. Words of promises and opposition should be followed by actions and qualifications.
There has been a lot of talking about the need for change. I thought for awhile that the campaigns were going to be the start of that change and, for awhile there was a difference in the way candidates presented themselves. Then, the campaign got too long and the positive words and personal qualifications came to be in short supply. Poll reports and speeches became slanted and negative. The public did not like the failures and, so they lost interest in the campaigns.
It is certainly clear that if we are going to change, people who lack experience in the way politics are practiced are essential so that we can make changes. Another way of saying that is, "we need to reinvent the way we do government." Another need is to lay down our guns and find other ways of working out international and cultural differences. Violence must go, and that must begin on the local level, guns do not promote peace. It is too easy to pull the trigger.
When things don't improve, we resort to fault finding and name calling. We need to look for relationships across party lines that will work for positive gain for all of us. Whether we like it or not, we are one world, warts and all, and we can make that one world work for good, providing we learn where our common life is and work from there, rather than insisting on particular beliefs and practices.
It occurs to me that these days we are seeing a lot of volunteerism developing. There a lot of the social services in operation, all the way from food pantries, to home building, help for addicts, help with child rearing, and caring for the elderly. Maybe it is time for volunteer government officials. In my experiences in working to help persons in Stark County, religious practices, where one lives and how one had lived in Stark County did not come into question, it was the presence of a person with skills and concerns that got us going. We still don't have a residential requirement when we help people, we only ask, "what do you need"?, It seems to me that is a good sign that we are already willing and able to be doers of our words.
SourGrapesAndSaddleSores