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Aug 31, 2022Liked by Devin Thorpe

Indeed, civil discourse has fallen to the wayside; we should still value and respect those around us whom we call family, friends, and coworkers, even if we do not agree on everything... we draw conclusions, based on our own experiences and we haven't walked in others' shoes. Thanks for such a wonderful reflection; indeed, I am disenchanted with both the democratic and republican parties as I am finding neither truly represent my value system. I could not, in good conscience, vote republican or democrat in the past US presidential election. Yep, I voted for the "other guy" whom no one knew his name and he was not given any air time at televised debates. "You threw away your vote." Or, "You just gave the election to Trump." Or, you helped Biden's election." Yet, people did share that they did not like either of the candidates from the republican or democratic parties either and I said, "there are OTHER choices." Oftentimes, the response I get back is, "Yes, but, they will not win. You are throwing away your vote" (which perpetuates the notion that we have a two-party system in this country). I am thankful for Devin's excerpt and hope we can get along and talk in civil tones as our nation works through issues. I, too, have friends who voted for Trump; I have friends who voted for Biden. And, their reasons for doing so- did make sense to them- and oftentimes to me, as well. I am sharing two quotes that speak to the heart of what Devin is sharing: (1) No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the Legislature is in session," attributed to Gideon Tucker who wrote in a decision of a will case back in 1866. (2) A similar parody can be found in Magna Carta, "No man shall be deprived of the free enjoyment of his life, liberty, or property, unless declared to be forfeited by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land."

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Great feedback. Our literal programming via social media and the internet tells us to hate people who don't agree with us. It is literally going to kill us!

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As a one time trump voter and close friend to Devin and Gail I couldn't agree more. This is a spectacular well written piece. Most of my friends are on both side of the isle. Many now listen to logic. We have bill board here out west that show no face but two ear. They simply say we 'listen'. I believe we were given two ear and one mouth for a reason. That we should listen more and that we would let offensive comments go in one and out the other. Thanks for this great perspective. An arogant business man once boasted about all the language he knew, when is was done shooting of his mouth a simple farmer replied " I don't know many languages but I do know when to keep my mouth shut". Thank you for all you do and the difference you make. please excuse any errors as I'm no editor

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Devin,

Thanks for this. As you know, I think this is a critical issue. And, though I have fewer Trump supporters in my network than you do, it's clear that we have to ask how those of us on the left contribute to the problem. It's not just anti-fa. Way too many of us demonize the people we disagree with.

My hunch is that calls to have better discourse or efforts of groups like Braver Angels or Living Room Conversations can only take us so far. We also need to tackle and make some progress toward solving (making dents?) in the racial, economic, environmental problems we face.

What you're doing here and with SuperCrowd22 is an attempt to make such a dent.

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