In Search of Balance

Hi!

I haven't written anything in here for a while... it's not because I haven't had anything to say, it's more that I've had too much to say! I get overwhelmed by current events and can't decide where to start, what to include in my rant, what to leave out, what's relevant or superfluous, and so on. I find myself in awe of both the complexity and the simultaneous simplicity of many of the issues that face us today. It's that old paradox thing again.

On immigration, for instance, it seems so obvious that we should secure our borders immediately and effectively, work out some viable immigration policy that allows honest people to come here and work, figure out a humane way to deal with the millions of illegal immigrants that are already here, and institute policies that prevent employers from taking unfair advantage of people by paying them substandard wages and denying them what we consider to be the basic rights of employees (social security, some form of health insurance, and so on). Each one of these seemingly simple concepts, though, is incredibly complicated when one considers the details of implementing them. As with so many other issues, extremists on both sides of the argument stretch their credibility far beyond the cracking point and incur our comtempt for their narrow-mindedness. In their attempts to make their point they exaggerate, twist, ignore or deny conflicting evidence or facts, muddy the waters with unfounded assumptions and conclusions, and obfuscate things until we've lost sight of the big picture. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could break out of our adversarial paradigm and learn to cooperate in sincere efforts to address problems.

It's the same with almost every dillema that faces us - we polarize the issues, separating one 'side' from the other, building walls where none need exist and knocking down any bridges that might contaminate the pure fundamentalist vision of one group with that of the other, frustrating any efforts at compromise, and insuring our continued imprisonment in the cages we've created for ouselves.

Of course I'm doing the same thing right now... trying to oversimplify a very complex situation (different people have different perceptions of what's best for all, for starters), and complicating what is essentially a simple issue (that we should just try our best to work together for the benefit of all, rather than a select few).

Okay, I'll shut up now...

Big sigh. Well, life's a constant balancing act, isn't it? And that's the way it should be, I imagine. May your search for the balance go well.


:~)aniel