I’ve written to you about my MAGA friend, but it’s been a while. We are meeting for lunch Friday for one of our periodic confabs.
Brian and I go back maybe 30 years. I met him when I was an advisor to a company he worked for. I had a consulting company for many years, and one day a client of ours, where Brian worked, called and said that they had a shooting at the company, a dead employee, law enforcement onsite and wondered what they should do for the employees who witnessed one of their co-workers killed.
Me and my team dug in and provided the support we could, and I dearly hope to this day we made a difference. I will never forget the call from the general manager of the division. Nor will I forget the draped body of the deceased employee when I drove up to the company entrance.
Brian was one of the leaders I met that day. He and I have stayed in touch, some years more than others. In the early 2000s I created a training tool for the martial arts, but I didn’t know how to make it. Brian did. So we partnered together and worked hard to make a product out of thin air. I think the product that Brian was critical in creating turned out pretty damn good. We gave it several years of effort, but in the end, no one wanted to buy it. That’s okay. We learned a lot and didn’t lose too much money in the adventure. A lot of time, though.
I give you this background to explain why our divergent political views have zero impact on the strength of our friendship. Brian voted for Trump and supports the administration as well as the GOP led Congress. I don’t.
Every couple of months or so, we get together for breakfast or lunch and compare notes. We always learn from each other. I understand and resonate with some of the policies and philosophies of the Republican party, or I should say the historical planks of the Republican platform. I also support many of the Democrat policies. But not all. I’m firmly in the middle, I guess. So when Brian and I get together, we try to bring facts, an open mind and a desire to seek a third way.
What do I mean by a “third way”, you probably ask. Now I have to talk about my marriage.
Cheri and I are celebrating 25 years together this September. There are a few principles that we talked openly about before we got married. One of those that we both hold dear is the “Third Way”. This means that whenever our two opinions, goals, desires or motives are in direct opposition, we assume that there is at least one more solution that will satisfy our individual needs which we haven’t thought of yet. To date, we’ve always found the Third Way.
So when Brian and I meet, we are actively looking for the Third Way. I think our approach to being active citizens of this amazing country might provide an example to others who feel like they can’t get close to the people they see as directly antagonistic to their beliefs, values and goals. We can make up stories about “them” and we can see the theatrical drama of the two parties blaring accusations and complaints towards the other, believing that rancor to be the reality in all cases.
Or we can sit down with someone who seems to have opposite views and first try to understand how they arrived at their position. Then we can share our own perspective. My guess is that we’ll find more commonality.
What we need to remember in this grass roots approach, however, is that both parties would prefer that we don’t talk to each other with the intent to first understand. Political leadership, in these days, is an industry with commercial objectives. We, the voters, are the consumers to whom they are pandering. A professional politician, including the peripheral professions, can’t sell themselves as the solution unless they create a false choice between two purveyors of governance.
There’s a Third Way.
See you Friday, Brian! Looking forward to it!