Chris -- Very moving video & commentary. It's refreshing to see this talked about. It's not talked about nearly enough. Actually, it's not talked about at all. What little was left of political discourse in the United States died the day it became a matter of "You're either with us or against us."
My husband was shocked when he came to visit the States three years ago, at a time when we were one month away from the presidential elections, to find that Americans -- or at least Midwesterners -- don't talk to each other about politics. Not even on the eve of elections.
In Costa Rica, there are two things people talk about at the dinner table and in bars: family and politics. Soccer & weather might come in a distant third. But who's in power and what that means for the future of the country, whether for good or ill, whether you disagree with your neighbor or not, is always at the top of the list.
In the U.S., we let the media do the talking for us. And look where that's led us -- to a world of disinformation and lack of information. It's great that there is discourse somewhere on the internet, but it's hard to find, and many many people still don't have access to it. (It takes money, after all, to have an iphone...)
So, I don't know where I'm going with all this. Just to say thank you for stepping out there and using your voice. If enough people do, we may yet have a chance at achieving the changes we need.
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My husband was shocked when he came to visit the States three years ago, at a time when we were one month away from the presidential elections, to find that Americans -- or at least Midwesterners -- don't talk to each other about politics. Not even on the eve of elections.
In Costa Rica, there are two things people talk about at the dinner table and in bars: family and politics. Soccer & weather might come in a distant third. But who's in power and what that means for the future of the country, whether for good or ill, whether you disagree with your neighbor or not, is always at the top of the list.
In the U.S., we let the media do the talking for us. And look where that's led us -- to a world of disinformation and lack of information. It's great that there is discourse somewhere on the internet, but it's hard to find, and many many people still don't have access to it. (It takes money, after all, to have an iphone...)
So, I don't know where I'm going with all this. Just to say thank you for stepping out there and using your voice. If enough people do, we may yet have a chance at achieving the changes we need.