Comments on: Are We Too Divided?

By: A breath-taking moment in American history | Around Des Moines

A breath-taking moment in American history | Around Des Moines — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 08:02:34 +0000

[...] you read the post Are we too divided? It was written 10 months ago, early in the campaign, before the Iowa primaries, before either Obama [...]

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Around Des Moines » Barack Obama Returns to Iowa — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:59:51 +0000

[...] Related posts: Are we too divided? [...]

By: M.R. Field

M.R. Field — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 01:11:57 +0000

There is a difference between being divided and having different priorities. When the priorities conflict and there is no compromise, then there is division. People of different backgrounds sharing the same space do not automatically share the same priorities. The migrant worker may be saving as much money as possible to survive over the months of no work, while the business person may have so much money that he needs to build a mansion, although they both may eat at the local diner. Unless they desire the same land for different housing density, there is unlikely to be division because they are not going after the same limited resources.

I knew a person who every year would tire of hearing me complain about sidewalks that had not been shoveled. He would tell me to move to Florida. I would respond that I don’t like the heat. There is air conditioning, he said. Air conditioning doesn’t help on long walks, I would say. Get a car, is what he would say. If I wanted a car, I’d just buy one here, is what I responded. The fact that I should expect safe sidewalks in all seasons and be able to enjoy the northern climates was not the other person’s concern. Obviously the solution was just to get out of the north and buy a car, no more problems with snow, no more problems with walking, no more listening to me complain. The fact that I would be absolutely miserable was unimportant. This mentality of “it’s not my concern” is one I have encountered increasingly frequently, including from elected officials. That is not division; that is alienation.

By: Sandy Renshaw

Sandy Renshaw — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 21:43:42 +0000

Jim,

Welcome to blogging!

I took a look at this poll. It had to be remarkable to inspire you to write on AroundDesMoines.

What first caught my eye was 27% of Democratic voters are concerned about ‘Health Care Costs’ and only 2% of Republican voters. That must mean Republicans all have affordable health coverage.

And ‘Troops out of Iraq’ was listed as a top issue by 29% of Democratic voters and only 3% of Republican voters. My question is: what exactly is a “moral issue.” The war tops my list.

That’s just my immediate reaction – this raises a lot of questions in my mind, the most compelling to me is, “Are we really this divided?”

It’s time to find our similarities.

Thanks for sharing this poll.

Sandy