In our world today, you can be vilified no matter what you think. It doesn’t seem to matter on which side of an issue you fall, there will be people who condemn you. I’m going to begin with an example I faced this summer. I was part of a nationwide teacher group on Facebook; it was initially formed to provide support in the spring for teaching through a pandemic. However, by mid-summer, I repeatedly saw this:
• If you think we should bring kids back to school, you’re horrible! People will get sick and die!
• If you don’t think we should bring kids back to school, you’re horrible! Students learn best when they are in-person, and we have to do everything we can to bring them back and keep them safe at the same time!
Um…I finally decided to leave the group because, as my opinion evolved, I sometimes leaned in different directions. Apparently, I was horrible either way.
What are some other examples right now? Let’s take a look, shall we? What I think ultimately doesn’t matter in this exercise, but it’s good to look at both sides of an issue.
• Our school should NOT be going back to a hybrid format! The cases in Waseca County are still very high, and our students and staff are at risk.
• Our school needs to go back to a hybrid format! Many of the cases in Waseca County are at the jail, and the actual cases in our district are very low.
I’m sure after the last board meeting, people were either angry or elated. Were they going to make a decision that pleased everyone? Of course not. However, it sounded like they were listening to the people who elected them, which seems a rarity among elected officials.
• Everyone needs to wear a mask! We keep everyone safe when we cut down on the risk of spreading the virus, and you get used to them after a while.
• We shouldn’t have to wear a mask! They don’t really help, and it’s an infringement on our rights.
Governor Walz has said that he wishes he would have enforced the mask mandate earlier. It’s a curious brain exercise to wonder, if it had been done back in April or May, before everything with COVID became politicized, if people would be so adamant either way.
• The police need to get under control! They are killing minorities without cause and need to be defunded.
• The police are doing a great job! They won’t shoot you if you’re not breaking the law.
As I wrote a few weeks ago, the protests and riots are leading us down a path fraught with peril. Every case seems to have a different twist, but it’s hard not to worry about how this might ultimately play itself out.
• Donald Trump needs to be re-elected! We finally have a politician who’s not afraid to speak what’s on his mind, and he’s working hard to make America great again.
• Joe Biden is the choice for President! Trump is a psychopath who is doing more harm than good in our country.
And there’s plenty more from both sides. I really wonder, with a little over a month until the election, just how many people are still undecided. Maybe we could just do away with the multiple political mailings I get every day just on these two?
• We should remove statues and names of historical figures who have since been shown to be racist! We need to show that those things aren’t tolerated anymore.
• We should leave statues and names of historical figures, especially if what they did wasn’t considered bad in that time period! We need to recognize our history, even if it wasn’t all good.
I’ll be honest. I don’t even know where I fall on this issue. Is it okay to understand both sides, but not get too bent out of shape about it?
• Coke is the best type of pop! Everyone should drink it!
• Pepsi is the best type of pop! Everyone should drink it!
Come on, this is simple. Everyone knows Dr. Pepper is clearly the best type of pop.
• The Senate should NOT confirm a new Supreme Court justice right away! The Republicans didn’t want to do it the last time we were in an election year, so why change now?
• The Senate needs to confirm a new Supreme Court justice as soon as possible! There will likely be cases in front of the high court regarding the upcoming election, and we can’t afford to have a split vote.
This is really a tough one if you think it through. If you’re not far right or far left and like to use some common sense in cases like this, there just is no right answer.
And that’s the ultimate lesson in our reading this week. You can have an opinion. You can disagree with others. But quite often, there is no right answer. In 2020, people will look for reasons to be upset. It’d be wonderful if we could look at both sides of all issues and come to compromises instead of thinking it always has to be just this way or that way.
• However, there are possibly some questions that you have for our 2020 NRHEG school board candidates, and you might hope that the answers they provide will be the ones you’re looking for in order to cast an informed vote. I’d like to invite you to submit any questions you have for these fine folks to the following e-mail address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. I have the privilege to be the moderator for this forum on October 8, and I look forward to seeing what you think is important to know before you vote!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is recreant, which means disloyal or cowardly, as in, “He was called a recreant on social media for publicly changing his mind on a topic.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!