(Article changed on September 23, 2012 at 14:11)
As a young officer of Citibank, this writer was sent to a week-long course, called "Managing People for Middle Managers." It was a course for those on the "fast track" in Citibank; people that Senior Management of the bank determined were going to be the next line of upper level managers, people who would move up quickly.
Among the things we learned, were concepts like "there is no right way to do the wrong thing," and to "consider every decision we made as if it would appear on the front page of the New York Times," just as soon we made that decision.
After having written a number of articles for OpEdNews, and posted numerous comments on other news web sites -- like Huffington Post, TruthOut, and Daily Kos - it has become clear from comments made in reply that a number of things are true:
- Posters of replies to my comments, and those of others, who disagree with our similar points of view are quite intense
- Posters of dissimilar points of view tend towards using name-calling to make their points
- Those who use name-calling, in response to somewhat thoughtful articles and comments, rarely use facts to make their points
- Even though they espouse, in these cases, the Republican tenets, or are followers of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, name-callers are not similarly wealthy; else they would not be lurking on the progressive and, dare I use the word, "Liberal" or forward-thinking sites
- Those who do use name-calling to set themselves against the positions taken by this writer and other, like-minded writers, rarely choose their words to demonstrate truisms, but mainly use their words to hurt or show hatred
- Name-callers rarely, if ever, understand that "the truth hurts" and the people they are defending and supporting, think the worst of them and consider them the same way they do the 47% of our population
This writer has taken to following World News links on the Internet, while also following the Political and National News on both the radio and TV, and looking for truth in every area possible, in an effort to inform himself and those with whom he has conversations, whether by email or in person. It is necessary to spend the time to do so, in order to understand what is happening and what is at stake in the upcoming Presidential elections, as well as the Senatorial and Congressional and local elections.
What is going to happen to our nation is of interest to and of vast importance to every person of voting age in this country. There is no sitting back and watching; the presidential election is not a spectator sport. It is a necessary participatory event, the consequences of which are of the greatest import of any election in the past fifty or more years. Specifically, this is caused by the vast chasm between the ideas of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
One party is willing to share the ideas and methods of their plan to more this country forward; the other party is not willing to do so, only promising that if they are sent to Washington, or their state houses and governors' mansions, they will make changes which are beneficial " we need only trust them and wait until they are elected.
This we cannot do. We cannot take on faith, so to speak, what the Republicans will do if, Heaven forbid, they are elected. Their concept of fixing the economy is what put our country in this deep recession to begin with. Trickle-down economics has failed every time it was used; the definition of insane is trying the same exact thing, continuously, and expecting a different result. We, as a country, would be insane were we to continue trying to use trickle-down economics to fix our economic problems.
Simply put, there is no right way to do the wrong thing!
While we have seen a video of Mitt Romney telling high roller donors that he isn't going to be concerned about the 47% of people, and then not apologizing for his hurtful words, we see that his campaign people have dragged out a fourteen year old video of President Obama. They want you to believe that the President wants to redistribute wealth. If you saw the video then you actually heard the President -- then only a state senator -- saying that the funds used for governmental plans and projects and agencies, should be pooled and redistributed when certain of those funds are needed to help governmental plans which actually work. Not personal wealth.
So what we need to realize is that some people, some writers, will try to help people see the truth, the facts, while other people will attack those writers with name-calling and no facts, no truths.
Forgive the hackneyed phrase, but "sticks and stones" do not a campaign make! If the truth hurts, then study the truth; look within to see why it hurts. Perhaps the path the Republicans and their supporters are following will lead to destruction, rather than enlightenment.
