Intermittent Differences, Enduring Similarities

I’ve seen a few comments expressing sadness about our divisions and foretelling the end of our great nation. I am not so sure, and here is why: Fake news may cause those on the polar extremes to outsource the determination of what is real to their polarized leaders, but for those of us in the middle, it should make us more independent minded and better fact checkers. Social Media may short circuit to personal attacks for those whose extreme views cannot tolerate questioning, but for those of us in the middle, it should improve our debating skills and help us to maintain our perspective on our intermittent differences and enduring similarities. Volatile issues might seem to further divide us, but such issues also divide the divided, and, like water molecules, we become more fluid. There are times when I wholeheartedly agree with and assessment from one friend that a different friend would find the patently offensive, and vice versa. In short, throughout all of these polar extremes, the middle gains momentum. We have less strife than we did during the Civil War, or the Civil Rights Movement, or the Vietnam War. We are just flexing the margins and improving ourselves to move forward with a more unified understanding of each other and the world. We should not feel grateful for this particular process, because there are better ways to achieve the same objective. We should not feel fearful either, because it is the same objective after all.