The below commentary was written by LFP President Pearce Godwin in July 2013 while in Africa. It has been printed in dozens of major newspapers across the United States reaching millions of readers. Listen First Project was born from a desire to turn these words into action and make a tangible impact on our society, one conversation at a time.
I personally have strong moral convictions on a host of issues, but what we should not and cannot do if we hope for a healthy, prosperous nation is demagogue our neighbors because they see the world differently, suggesting that not only their opinion but they themselves are somehow less. Such behavior is immature, anti-social and un-American.
Vitriol aimed at the other side is both unproductive and self defeating. Politics is not the central battleground between good and evil. I believe there are black and white issues, principled issues worth fighting for, but these are the exception not the rule. There is an awful lot of grey area in public policy ripe for negotiation and compro$@!%.
Today the parties behave like every issue is an existential threat and their last stand. Elections are a competition; legislating should be a more collective and bipartisan effort toward positive action on behalf of an American people who expect sensible and productive representation.
Rather than looking at our dysfunctional political governing system with the scorn and incredulity that it deserves, many of us dive into the cesspool head first and carry the torch of division and demagoguery to Main Street. We've successfully created a country of warring factions, and it's ripping America apart at the seams. When it takes foreign terrorists slaughtering thousands of our neighbors to unite us, something is horribly wrong.
Now, for my humble prescription: listen. That's it, listen. I borrowed the idea from God because He's smarter than I am. "Be quick to listen, slow to speak."
I believe we have a moral responsibility to listen and gain an understanding of the other side's position. What good is it to hold fiercely to a position that we've not bothered to weigh or pressure test against divergent perspectives. Too often we engage in mutual reinforcement parties with friends of like mind. We call this pervasive American practice confirmation bias. Technology has allowed such complete fracturing of the information pipeline that most Americans are hearing exactly what they want to hear from people just like them without ever having their ideas questioned or challenged. Not only do we have our own opinions; now we have our own facts. This is dangerous.
What if we turned off our favored news source, sat down with someone of a different, fresh perspective and listened, leaving as much bias and prejudice as humanly possible at the door? Then imagine if your new good practice were adopted on park benches across America, in school cafeterias and yes, even in the halls of Congress.
While we'd still hold different, even competing, views, we'd be able to move beyond slander and seek common ground, each with a newfound appreciation and respect for the other side. It's too easy to step up on our high horse and rant until the cows come home, sometimes it's even fun, but it's destructive, and one by one we need to change.
The sun is now rising over Nairobi. It's time for a new day in America as well. It's time to listen.
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"It's Time to Listen" has appeared in the newspapers listed below among others.
Raleigh News & Observer: Rx for political rancor: Let’s try listening
Myrtle Beach Sun News: Listening to, not judging, each other key to fixing dysfunctional government
Fayetteville Observer: Godwin - It's time to listen during political discourse with respect
Watauga Democrat: It's a new day, time to listen
Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald: It's time to listen
Asheville Citizen-Times: Time for vitriol is over; it's time to listen
Durham Herald-Sun: It's time to listen to the other side
Duke University Chronicle: It's time to listen
Georgetown Times: Humble prescription- Listen
Waccamaw Times: Humble prescription- Listen
Daily Tar Heel: People should learn to listen more often
The State: Listen to others as you would have them listen to you
Durham News: It's Time to Listen
Chapel Hill News: It's Time to Listen
Chattanooga Times Free Press: Stop ranting, judging, complaining: It’s time to listen
Black Mountain News: Time for vitriol is over; it's time to listen
Alexandria News: It's Time to Listen
Free Lance-Star: For better understanding, let the ears work
Salt Lake City Deseret News: One lesson we can learn from the shutdown - it's time to listen
The Oklahoman: It's time to listen to each other
Arizona's KTAR: One lesson we can learn from the shutdown - it's time to listen
Winston-Salem Journal: It's time to listen
