Mike, you will be missed, and I hope that you stay in touch in the Leisure and Work sections, and just stay out of the Politics section. You have alot to offer, and hopefully you receive some good things from NR as well. I also hope that someone else (not me as I usually cannot stomach it, for the same reasons as you, I would imagine) will rise to the occasion as a voice of reason and fact-based holder-of-sanity, as you have been.
I have appreciated your point-of-view, the time, effort, and intelligence that you bring to the table – which can be applied to any scenario, not just politics. Which, I’m sure you do.
I do think there are foundational (and contagious) attitudes which are fundamentally and grossly devoid of compassion - and that pushing against it, even with best of reasoning, is a well-draining exercise, leaving us empty. The only thing I can think of is to try to contribute to increasing attitudes which may potentially increase compassion and be bridge-building wherever possible, and sometimes it’s not possible, and it’s time to look elsewhere, as you are wisely doing. But, sometimes, you do make a difference and you’ll never know it, so there’s that too. And, I would imagine that have have done that, in spades!
I also think that politics is much more emotionally rudimentary than we can imagine, and attitudes are formed based on a myriad of intangibles like bias, identity, influences, etc. The best we can do is perhaps be aware of our own influence, and contribute where we feel we can make a difference.
I wish you all the best. You have given me a great deal of assistance with my husband’s auto-immune disease as well, as I journey through that world trying to be of as much assistance to him that I can. Thank you for that. All good things to you! |
