My parents were not blessed with much formal education, but both of them were wise in dealing with the issues of life. Mother and Daddy insisted that their children receive as much formal education as could be attained. Daddy called it, “book learning.” My sister, brother, and I continued our training in the formal levels of education beyond college graduate degrees. It did not matter that we had surpassed our parent’s levels of formal training; in my opinion, we never reached their level of wisdom. My mother understood the basic principle of economics to be that one must never spend more than they have available. She believed in being frugal in her budget goals for our family. Daddy understood the political world like no one I have even known. He always looked at the character of a person when determining how he was going to cast his vote. With very high moral standards, Daddy held those who represented him to those same standards. As children, we often heard our parents discussing the issues of the day. Daddy used lots of trite comparisons, or so we thought, and we often made fun of some of the things Daddy would say. One of his favorite statements was: “Ignorant people are very generous; they tell what they don’t know to anybody who will listen.” One of the statements my mother often made would not be received very well; I am sure, in the politically correct environment of today. She could often be heard saying to one of us: “don’t be stupid,” when we were going to have to make a decision. Daddy would sometime follow up his saying about the generous attitude of ignorant people by saying: “There is no shame in being ignorant; the shame is in staying that way.” Ignorance is defined in the dictionary as “lacking in knowledge.” The word “stupid” is defined as “lacking ordinary quickness and keenness of mind; dull.”
In the fast paced Internet world of today, knowledge and the attainment of information is at our finger tips. These realities notwithstanding, there are people who continue to insist that their assessment of a situation is the final answer. A person might have a personal opinion or a personal preference on an issue, and insist that their position is the only logical one to have. There are people who make up their mind quickly and cannot be changed by facts, or more information. I have often heard people make a statement regarding the political world that the issue was “cut and dried,” This gives the opinion that a preconceived concept is going to be the final outcome of a matter. This statement is made usually by someone who does not have all the information or they have expressed an opinion and expected their opinion would be the final word on a matter. In the political world just like sports, there is a great temptation to have arm chair quarterbacks. It is easier to be a critic when one has not sought full information on an issue and they think they already know the best conclusion. I have found that there will always be listening ears to hear what the ignorant are ready to tell.
Our culture has developed what I call the “wrestle mania” attitude. There is a hostile spirit expressed in our day that goes after a person with whom one disagrees. It is hard for some people to separate the policy from the personality. With the idea that winning an argument at any cost, one soon discovers they no longer are winning from an informed position so they have to bash those who hold to another position. The rage and anger level is rising in our country. We see the violence that erupts into public brawls with that type of attitude.
The distrust of those who serve in all levels of government today spills over to others in our society. The attitude some express is an insistence that a person must agree with every opinion being put forward by certain people, or the public bashing begins. That reminds me of a humorous saying of my daddy. He would say, “There are two opinions on every issue; my side and then a bunch of ignorant prejudiced fools.” A person much wiser than me once said, “There is a good reason we were given two ears and one mouth.” We need to listen twice as much as we speak.
Ray Newman: All Rights Reserved
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