Labor Day weekend came and went and with it the inevitable return to our overly busy lives. In many ways we welcome the return of our more structured schedules, but we do miss the sand between our toes and the cool Maine evenings.
What we do not like returning to is the angst, anxiety and anger that seems to have grown in the summer heat. We have written about it before. We initially thought that people lacked empathy because of the pandemic, but the pandemic has been over for some time now. Shouldn’t we have returned to our pre-pandemic sense of civility and thoughtfulness toward others?
We understand there is a lot happening in the world right now that can stress us out; the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, even the Queen’s death, but do we need to take our stress out on each other? Let’s be civil.
Civility is not the absence of disagreement, but the acceptance of it. Having opposing political parties, positions on issues, and opposing candidates is a good thing for democracy. However, when one group opposes another completely, and without the benefit of discourse, that is practicing the same intolerance it claims the other is exhibiting. It is then that dogma replaces thoughtful discussion among people with different views, thus debate and dialog take a back seat to the politics of destruction, anger, and control.
We can do better. We need to be engaged for our community to thrive. As President Theodore Roosevelt said: “Wide differences of opinion in matters of religious, political, and social belief must exist if conscience and intellect alike are not to be stunted, if there is to be room for healthy growth.” However, that necessitates tolerance for those differences to be allowed.
Instead of focusing on what we disagree on, instead of looking for what separates us from one another, why don’t we celebrate what brings us together as a community? We may be large and diverse. We may be from different political ideologies or economic backgrounds, but that does not mean we cannot find commonality in who we are.
It is easy to focus on the negative. It does not take effort. We see it frequently in politics, the personal destruction of an opponent for gain. Unfortunately, what was once simply negative campaigning has found its way into just about every facet of our lives. We believe that is harmful to our community. Statements that we would never make in person towards another are regularly thrown around on social media without regard.
We can do better. President John F. Kennedy said, “If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.”
Let’s take a moment and put all of the things that are stressing us out away for a bit. We cannot ignore them, but we should not let them control our lives. Let’s work at celebrating our community, differences and all. Let’s no longer practice the politics of personal destruction. Let’s listen a little more and talk a little less.
Here at the Sentinel, we are going to live by three words: civility, empathy, and thoughtfulness. We are going to continue to celebrate what makes our community great. What is that you ask? In a word it is you, our readers, the citizens of Greenwich. Together we can make our community even better. It just takes these three words: civility, empathy and thoughtfulness.
