{"id":401,"date":"2018-02-28T10:57:55","date_gmt":"2018-02-28T15:57:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/?p=401"},"modified":"2018-02-28T14:17:37","modified_gmt":"2018-02-28T19:17:37","slug":"more-alike-different","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/more-alike-different\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Can’t We See That We Are More Alike Than Different?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Republican Party is caricatured as a heartless, racist group that does not care about children, the poor or the elderly. The perception is that it is the party of corporate greed and self interests. The Democrat Party is caricatured as a group of bleeding heart hippies who want to raise taxes and throw it all away on frivolous programs and giveaways for lazy bums who would rather sponge off society than get a job. They are seen as drifting idealists who want a socialist society.<\/p>\n

None of this is true.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have friends on both sides (on the extreme sides even). None of them are heartless; none of them want something for nothing; all of them care about people. They believe that children should get enough to eat, that our elderly population deserves respect and a decent standard of life. \u00a0They are kind, generous people, willing to help their families, friends and in many situations, even strangers.<\/p>\n

So why are we always disagreeing? How did we get here?<\/p>\n

Like most difficult questions, there is no simple answer. Therefore there is also no simple solution to heal the divided society we have become. But I think some changes can help us get closer.<\/p>\n

We need to communicate better<\/h2>\n

When you take the time to listen, we all want the same things. When we hear something we disagree with, we need to not take it personally. We will not all agree on everything and that is okay. Supporting one idea doesn\u2019t necessarily mean opposition to another. We need multiple ideas\/points of view. In most cases, there is no one solution to a problem. The biggest ills of society have many origins and need to be approached from multiple angles.<\/p>\n

We also need to stand strong, together<\/h2>\n

We need to question those who seek to divide us, who every time we have a difference of opinion whisper,<\/p>\n

\u201cThey <\/em>are all the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey<\/em> are against you.\u201d<\/p>\n

By looking at what we have in common and acknowledging that we have a common goal, we can get past our differences. We are truly more alike than we are different.<\/p>\n

We need to establish who is in charge<\/h2>\n

Our political representatives are our employees. While the means to hire and fire them is more complicated than in the business world, we still have that power.\u00a0 If we were business owners, we would certainly fire employees who ignore our directions when someone outside the company offers them something they want.<\/p>\n

Although we can\u2019t eliminate the power of special interests (that\u2019s the job of the lawmakers we are trying to keep from being influenced), we still have the power to dismiss our representatives. In the end, I honestly don\u2019t care if we have a group full of Republicans or Democrats. We need representatives that listen to us, not special interests.<\/p>\n

Some won\u2019t believe that I mean this. Many people think they have me figured out. They have slapped a label on me based on something I have said or written. Among other things, I have been referred to as a \u201cbleeding heart,\u201d a \u201ctree hugger,\u201d a \u201clibtard,\u201d a \u201csnowflake\u201d and \u201cone of those liberals.\u201d These people blame me for decisions made by politicians they assume I have voted for. Taking out the ridiculousness that one can be held responsible for a single vote made by a politician one has voted for (out of hundreds or thousands), they really don\u2019t know if I vote or who I have voted for.<\/p>\n

I am registered to vote as an Independent. My beliefs and values straddle the traditional ones of both parties. I have split my ticket in almost every election, many times in half. I do my research on the candidates and try to determine which one more closely agrees with my position on the largest number of issues. I prioritize issues and sometimes am forced to vote for someone who vehemently disagrees with me on one issue, in the hope that the more important one is resolved. Being human, we will never find someone who agrees with us on every topic.<\/p>\n

As an Independent, I live in a state where I have no voice in the primaries, so my voice is limited. So I am asking all of you. If you are registered Republican or Democrat, do some research and vote in the primaries. Give me two great candidates to choose from. I would love nothing more than a tough decision of who to vote for in November. In the meantime, let’s talk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Republican Party is caricatured as a heartless, racist group that does not care about children, the poor or the elderly. The perception is that it is the party of corporate greed and self interests. The Democrat Party is caricatured as a group of bleeding heart hippies who want to raise taxes and throw it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[63],"tags":[98,97,12],"class_list":["post-401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-communication","tag-democrat","tag-republican"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/02\/puzzle-535508_1280.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7mJoQ-6t","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7,"url":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/why-cant-we-all-just-get-along-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":401,"position":0},"title":"Why Can\u2019t We All Just Get Along?","author":"Kimberly Yavorski","date":"February 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"In our house, this past weekend was full of politics. We spent part of Friday and much of Saturday watching the live stream of Washington and Lee University\u2019s Mock Republican Convention. The school has a long-standing tradition of every four years holding a mock convention for the party which is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "social mores"","block_context":{"text":"social mores","link":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/category\/social-mores\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/02\/scan0004.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/02\/scan0004.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/02\/scan0004.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/02\/scan0004.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/02\/scan0004.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/02\/scan0004.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46,"url":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/why-i-was-late-to-the-sisterhood\/","url_meta":{"origin":401,"position":1},"title":"Why I Was Late to the Sisterhood","author":"Kimberly Yavorski","date":"March 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Facebook informed me that today is International Women\u2019s Day, much in the same way it announces other \"special\" days (I have more to say on this, but that will be the subject of a separate post). 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Parents alone are not to blame.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "social mores"","block_context":{"text":"social mores","link":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/category\/social-mores\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"an empty helicopter cockpit as viewed from in front","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/05\/IMG_1675.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/05\/IMG_1675.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/05\/IMG_1675.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/05\/IMG_1675.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/05\/IMG_1675.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/05\/IMG_1675.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":204,"url":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/midlife-revelations\/","url_meta":{"origin":401,"position":3},"title":"Midlife Revelations Found in the Wilderness","author":"Kimberly Yavorski","date":"August 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I had a much needed break from everyday life.\u00a0 We spent three rejuvenating nights camping in Shenandoah National Park, where my cell phone got only spotty service, and the questions of the day included where to hike and where to go for dinner (we didn\u2019t completely \u201crough it\u201d).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "midlife"","block_context":{"text":"midlife","link":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/category\/midlife\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_0043resized","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/08\/IMG_0043resized-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":385,"url":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/world-needs-more-kindness\/","url_meta":{"origin":401,"position":4},"title":"What the World Needs Now Is More Kindness","author":"Kimberly Yavorski","date":"November 13, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is World Kindness Day. Begun by the World Kindness Movement (a coalition of organizations promoting kindness throughout the world) in 1998, the goal of the day is to promote a kinder world. Organizations and schools plan a variety of events such as handing out cards and flowers, organizing flashmobs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "social mores"","block_context":{"text":"social mores","link":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/category\/social-mores\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/11\/IMG_7477-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":100,"url":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/preparing-children-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":401,"position":5},"title":"Are “Top” Colleges the Best Preparation for Life?","author":"Kimberly Yavorski","date":"March 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A recent article I read about a child who was devastated about being rejected by Harvard struck a nerve with me. Despite the fact that only about 10% of students who apply to Ivy League schools are admitted (and many of those rejected do meet the qualifications), this student believed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "education"","block_context":{"text":"education","link":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/category\/education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/03\/DSCF1033resized-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":409,"href":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401\/revisions\/409"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}