When I listened to the President's speech the thing that resonated with me was the fact he called on people, citizens, to contact their congressmen and voice their opinions. President Obama suggested compromise, but that wasn't anything he hadn't said before. The only thing that seemed new to me, in a speech that was critiqued as offering "nothing new" by most, was his call to the people to let their congressmen know how they felt and how they wanted the situation resolved. I'm sure this has probably been done before but I don't recall anytime too recently where the President requested a national television audience and the crux of his message was to encourage people to get in touch with their representatives.
I followed the news, specifically on this issue about people contacting their representatives, and from most reports I read it seems people actually did this. Many office headquarters reported large amounts of voice mail and email contacts. Many citizens reported receiving busy signals when trying to contact their congressmen all across the land. I have also followed the polls and it seems clear the vast majority of Americans, regardless of their party affiliation, seem to agree that compromise is the only real solution.
This made me wonder if one of our local congressman had received larger than normal contacts from his constituents. I visited his public Facebook page to see if we, right here at home, believed in compromise as the best remedy. Below is what I found. All replies are in order they took place, from newest to oldest, in the last twelve hours on Congressman Devin Nunes' public figure Facebook page. The only thing not included is comments that shared links.
It would seem people did exactly what the President asked them to do in regard to voicing their views. However, not one person suggested their congressman compromise. I have no idea how Mr. Nunes plans on voting but what if he wanted to compromise and this is all he heard from his constituents?
I'm not really that politically savvy, even though I do follow it for my own interest in the psychology of it all. I'm deeply interested in how we interact with one another, in all aspects of life. I can't offer the best policy for our government to enact to solve our debt situation. Most of the stuff these professionals deal with is well beyond me. However, I can tell you one thing with a large degree of certainty, not compromising is very rarely a solution to any problem.
Our attitude toward one another is deeply troubling to me, and not just in the political arena. Somewhere along the way we made a conscientious decision to stick to our guns on every issue, large and small, and dismiss anything that isn't in alignment with our personal belief. We gravitate to people that share our opinion and demonize and vilify everyone that offers a differing view.
Obviously, not everyone that lives in this area believes our congressman shouldn't compromise, it's mathematically nearly impossible. And the polls even suggest the people that believe in compromise are much larger than those who don't. Yet, not one person contacted their representative to voice this opinion.
In the end, we deserve everything our apathy brings us. There is nothing wrong with the people that don't believe we should work together contacting their congressman and letting him know how they feel, in fact they were encouraged to do so by the President. But there is something very wrong with no one contacting him to let him know they simply believe in the idea of compromise. It is shameful and we will no doubt reap the harvest we've sowed.
