ON HAVING A FACT-BASED OPINION

I have a friend who will not read my writings. She says she does not read, "that liberal crap." At the core of what she has told me is what I think is wrong about the world in general. Very few are willing to listen to and understand another point of view. It is as if to hear another point of view is to agree with it. Nothing is farther from the truth.

H.L. Mencken once said, "The plain truth is that I am not a fair man, and I don't want to hear both sides." If most people were as erudite and well-read as the Sage of Baltimore, I might allow it unnecessary to listen to both sides of an argument for I would know it has already been heard many times before.

To my thinking not reading about or learning about another point of view is like playing a violin with no bow string. It would be the same as trying to understand World War II from only Adolf Hitler's perspective. Would you understand arithmetic if you learned only how to add and not to subtract? Or, can you truly understand English literature without knowing Shakespeare?

To me not understanding how other people think, or why they think it, would be like living in a world with no balance.  We see all the time how people act when they refuse to hear someone else's side of the story. They

kill.  They persecute.  They cause war.

I grew up in a working class family in Baltimore.  I left home when I was 17 years old. I have since earned a Bachelor's and a Master's degree. In my 20+ years of formal schooling I primarily studied History, Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, and Public Affairs. I have read thousands of books and unimaginable numbers of newspapers and periodicals. Fortune and curiosity has taken me to 48 of the United States of America, as well through dozens of countries on 5 continents of our globe. I have met, talked, and argued with folks of different religions, cultures, colors, languages, and social position.

This reading and travelling and talking and listening has made me what I am. It has most especially provided me the foundation that helps me think through issues. And, it has provided me with perspective for where I fit in the world.

I have read and tried to listen to all sides of an argument in order to form my own opinions. These conclusions about the world I live in became the meat on my bones. Though imperfect, I have at my center a sense of what is right and wrong, along with the importance of understanding I am one of many. I do not exist without others.  I accomplished nothing without the support of others. I will get nowhere without the support of others.  I am nothing without the world around me. Anyone who thinks they are independent or knows what is right, in my experience, is dead wrong.

Elie Wiesel once said,
I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation.  We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

Now, after many years listening, I am talking. Age and experience have given me something to say. I have an opinion on many things. I am using this blog, Martin's Musings, to offer these opinions up to the world. It is my perspective and my perspective only. Yes, I may get preachy at times. Yes, my opinions may seem strong at times. But, I am still open to argument. I am still open to another point of view. I am still learning something new every day.

What I have learned in life is that most people need a prod to think. Most people need someone to push their button in order to challenge a point of view. I hope to be that prod at times.

An argument, by the way, is not name calling or lying about the facts, like I hear so many times on Fox News.  It is not the loudest argument or the one written in ALL CAPS with multiple exclamation points at its ending!!!  A good argument has facts and a point of view.

Let me know what you think.  If I knew everything, I would already be lying in the ground with dirt on my face.