Earl Harris III
Classmates,
It’s been roughly 48 hours since my last “ whiny” post on Halloween. Opening to the Message Forum this morning, I was greeted by some 35 or more new entries, including one from newbie Mary Powers (Evans). Welcome to the Forum, Mary!
Some of these posts I would have to characterize as “hair on fire!” entries, so much so that it prompted Katie to admonish everyone in #11544 “to get over yourselves.”
It seems that so much of what is being tossed about comes down to where we place ourselves along the ideological and political spectrum from the “ultra-right, nationalist and populist Maga/Trump movement” to “ to the ultra-left extremists at the other end who hate America and want to tear it apart”.
The quotes in the previous paragraph are mine. Admittedly, they reflect my own political and ideological take. Nonetheless, I’m sticking with my views. Why? Because I simply don’t think that much, if anything, is going to be solved by continuing to pound away at the table over and over an over again with hardened (and predictable) points of view with the hope of obliterating the other side, pummeling former class members into submission with criticism meant to “win” this zero sum game.
Not all of you behave as described, but some of you do.
I have grown weary of thinking about, let alone actually entering into the partisan fray, either for the purpose of advancing my agenda or defending it time and time again.
I think it’s time to put the swords away, take several steps back, and reflect on what we’re doing here on this forum.
As I have said many times over the past few years, we need to strive to engage with each other with whom we disagree with less anger, less vitriol and, yes, less hate. Conversely, we need to consider, approaching others with who we vehemently disagree with more civility and kindness, including acceptance of the notion that others might actually have something of value to contribute.
In my opinion, we must always be on the lookout for ways to connect. In order to do so, we will need to be less subjective and more objective when it comes to pursuing agreement on basic facts and the seeking of truth.
Let me give you an example.
At the risk of being seen as one who wishes to further “fan the flames” of disagreement, and the further erosion of trust, let us turn to the subject of illegal immigrants and notion of “open borders”.
These two interrelated issues have garnered a lot of attention and controversy on this Message Forum where impassioned arguments and bumper sticker slogans abound.
Many of my friends on the other side of the aisle have forcefully argued here that we have an “open border” policy with Mexico that affords unfettered and free access to our country damaging our economy, bringing crime and threatening the general health and safety of our citizens. Many have gone so far as to claim that President Biden and his administration bear full responsibility for what is viewed as a catastrophic mismanagement of epic proportions.
Personally, I do not think that we have an “open border” with Mexico. Neither do we have it at the current moment, nor have we had ‘open borders” reaching back decades into our past.
I’m not going to launch into a detailed argument against the notion other than to suggest that the concept of “open borders”, is more or less, a political construct being used to persuade others. Specifically, it is used quite extensively by right-wing media outlets like Fox News, OAN, or Newsmax. It is mostly absent as a descriptor our border with Mexico on left-wing media outlets, such as CNN, and MSNBC.
If you don’t believe me, may I suggest that you take a gander at the other side’s nightly cable TV “news” broadcasts. Or listen to podcasts or radio talk shows. Either way, you’ll see what I’m talking about. The concept of “open borders” is rooted in bias, parading as propaganda in many cases. For more on the topic, click below on these links:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/03/open-borders-myth-fueling-migration-crisis
https://www.politifact.com/article/2022/apr/26/greg-abbott-refers-bidens-open-border-policies-are/
https://www.thoughtco.com/open-borders-4684612
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico–United_States_border
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_border
The links above are not being offered as an argument for or against “open borders”. Rather, my decision to include these is simply to expose the nature and complexities of various forms of border policy, their pros and cons, successes and failures. And, this is but a cursory sampling of articles you can find. There are scores of others.
Further, they are offered as a possible starting point to gain better understand of the various kinds and levels of border security and the challenges we now face and have faced in the past in attempts to devise a workable and comprehensive U.S. border/immigration policy. So far, the three branches of government have only met with limited success that suggest there much hard work ahead, with compromises that will need to be made among a vast array of stakeholders.
If you read these articles and you would like to offer your reaction(s) or opinion to them, I would encourage you to do so. I only suggest that you be as thoughtful and as objective as you can in offering your take. Attempt to be constructive in your analysis of what you think of their analyses and conclusions. Suggest an alternative point of view, but hopefully one devoid of sloganeering. Provide support or offer alternative views of your own that would serve to advance a meaningful discussion among classmates.
Rather than succumbing to a desire to enter into heretofore repeated and failed keyboard combat wrestling matches, perhaps we can begin to explore and debate some of what is in these articles, instead.
Study and discussion of issues doesn’t always need to be personal. We might just benefit from getting to the bottom of what offends or excites us without immediately caving to the desire to launch verbal attacks against our fellow classmates. Maybe if we first began by investigating what others outside our group have presented, it just might serve to lower the heat a bit.
Just a thought.
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