What Is Easily at Hand Over Authenticity

Hey, guys. I wanted to give you something to think about if you're a regular reader. This idea of trying to see things from a different point of view is something that I have tried to teach the kids in the past, and now I mostly just hope to plant the seed in their minds. It's a quote from The Vinyl Cafe podcast from CBC radio. Because it's from the CBC, of course, it refers to Canadian Parliament and not our government. This isn't meant to be a political statement from one side or the other; I see it as more of a message that everyone on all sides should heed.

We have lost our understanding of that sort of respect these last few years. In its place, we've developed an impulse to cynicism. Too quickly, we look at our politics and our politicians as if everything was easy to figure out. As if compromises didn't have to be made. As if a thoughtful person can't reflect on something and then change his or her mind. As if this business of governing isn't complicated. Cynicism is an easy place to pitch a tent, and it's worth remembering when we're tempted by that soft and easy clearing in the forest that there are more honorable campsites.

--Stuart McLean