I Miss When We Could Disagree Well

Regardless of the differences in policy and opinion, this is how I think our leaders and representatives should act. I miss the days when they carried themselves in a civil way toward each other and worked hard to come together on solutions through debate, compromise, and respect, both toward one another and toward the people whom they represent.

I am not naive about it. There have always been dissenting opinions and big differences in these things, and there always will be. But there is a difference between arguing hard for what you believe and treating the other person as an enemy to be humiliated. Somewhere we blurred that line, and I do not think we are better for it.

The reason it stays on my mind is that it is not only a problem for politicians. It shows up at dinner tables and in comment sections and between old friends. I am trying hard to become the kind of person who can sit across from someone I disagree with and still treat them with dignity. That is a small thing, but small things add up, and it is the part any of us can actually control.