My mind has been working double time since last night. I had the wonderful opportunity to go to an event sponsored by Air America Radio, just a couple miles from the RNC in St. Paul, Minnesota. The event brought in the top radio show hosts: Bill Press,Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz, Thom Hartmann. The audience was made up of progressives, democrats, greens, independents and moderate republicans. It was an uplifting event.
The last speaker, (someone) Green from Clout America, has a very early show here (3-5 am). I was so impressed by what he had to say. His psychology background has made him an observer of people’s behaviors. He has studied people’s politics, looking at the differences between those on the left and those on the right. This is what he has found:
You can determine where you will fall on the political spectrum by answering one question. Do you believe that people are basically good,or do you believe people are basically bad? In other words, do you believe, left to our own devices, we will make good decisions or we will make bad decisions? Another way of thinking about it is, do you believe in the theory of people being born with original sin or not?
If you believe that people are basically bad, and that, left to our own devices, we will sin and make poor choices in our lives, you are operating from a place of fear. There is mistrust of people’s actions and intentions. When operating in a place of fear, you feel the need to overpower that which you perceive threatening. So those on this end ofthe spectrum approve of wars as being necessary.
If you believe that people are basically good, you are operating from a place of love. These people are trusting of others. When coming from this perspective, you feel the need to negotiate, to see the good in others, to believe others will “see the light.”
Most people fall somewhere along this spectrum.
The problem comes when someone from one end of the spectrum tries to convert someone from the other side of the spectrum. Those who feel people are basically bad will use fear to intimidate those from the other side of the spectrum. Those who feel people are basically good will use compromise to try to convert those from the other side. But the truth is, these feelings go so extremely deep, that it is almost impossible to change someone’s opinion.
So the question is, where do you fall on the spectrum?