Publius (John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay) to the rescue again, as they have wisdom we could use in our current national dialogue. Please stick with me as I set the stage.
Heard on the street: Americans arguing about each other’s V-status.
In one scenario, two boat owners were screaming and cussing at each other at the marina. They have been summer friends for years. One demanded the other “get off his boat.” Their boats are berthed next to each other in the marina. A fellow female boat owner nearby was distraught by what she saw/heard going on.
In the next scene, two sisters-in-law are talking on the phone. Each other’s V-status comes up in the conversation. The conversation is nothing more than a regurgitation of what is heard on the nightly news backed up by what one woman says is a medical fact. Then, the same woman throws a well-known U.S. governor’s name into the mix, saying she doesn’t “get” where he’s coming from. She says she’s heard that hospitals in that state are full of patients rooming out in the halls, and ninety percent of the ill are not vachs-seen-a-ted (misspelling intentional). And didn’t the other woman know that if vachs-scenes could eliminate childhood diseases, why wouldn’t everyone get one? The other woman responds with this: “There is a difference between what you are describing and actual Gene therapy, which is what you are advocating.”
Let the fireworks begin. Better yet, let’s look at the way our very young nation handled differences as we became a nation. I couldn’t help but draw a parallel between the seriousness of the issues and the differences in how Americans handled them- then and now.
In The Federalist Papers, Publius says he is offering his opinion openly, to be judged by all, not in a mean spirit, but in the spirit of telling the truth. If we took a page out of our forefathers’ writings, we could learn a thing or two about communication. Are we genuinely interested in the truth about vachs-see-nations? Or are we interested in winning an argument by any spirit- mean or otherwise?
Publius admits that there are two sides to the issue of a new Constitution, not just one. It seems that Americans today are either unwilling or unable to recognize two sides to the pressing issue we face today. One is V-status, but the other is therapeutics and preventatives.
Publius, a media figure, tells his readers to examine the advantages and the probable dangers of pursuing each path. He calls it “tracing the arguments to their consequences.” Today, the news media seems to ignore the pitfalls of the strategy they believe is best while dismissing any other alternative therapies or actions. Who is “tracing the arguments to their consequences” today? They are out there, but you have to dig to find those people because there is great effort to “cancel” them.
Publius tells us that American prosperity depends on us staying firmly united as a nation. Who today is seeking out what is most likely to affect our safety and happiness as a nation? Who is encouraging us to stay united and seek the truth about this issue, regardless of where the truth leads?
This is Common Sense Civics and Citizenship.🇺🇸
The information about Publius in today’s article can be found in:
“The Federalist Papers in Modern Language” by Mary E. Webster (Webster, Mary E. The Federalist Papers in Modern Language. 2018. 3-4).
