Commentary by Bill Keller
I have noticed a lot of words and actions judged by who said or did them, rather than their merits. I can make a list of accomplishments for both of our most recent presidents. A clear one is that they were willing to do a thankless job that most of us are not willing to do.
I was challenged recently to try something. A friend said to turn off the television and Facebook for two weeks and take two homeless veterans to breakfast and hear their stories. In addition, interact with as many strangers as possible. For me, I found the world was full of great people doing amazing acts of kindness and agreeing on 90 percent of the topics. The top two seemed to be the need for a more transparent Congress that relates to real people and a desire for the media to use its powerful platform to project good instead of division and bias.
I suspect we can agree that there is a dysfunction in the effectiveness of our government. How can we be more effective? Does the two-party system serve as a benefit? As a people, can we come up with more solutions than complaints? At one point or another we have likely said we cannot get change accomplished. Let’s keep trying.
Our group will be tagged as naïve, Pollyannaish and too simplistic. But we are the ones this government is supposed to represent. It must be clearer, simpler, efficient and transparent. And while there has been hatred, blaming and all sorts of crime and bad behavior from some, the majority are inspired and motivated by great expectations being projected on them. We are ready to start catching people doing things right!
Join The Agreed once a month in Carmel to discuss these things and to get information on where you can get involved for change and progress.
Bill Keller is a Carmel resident and founder of The Agreed, a grassroots movement that aims to make change by focusing in areas where there is already strong agreement.
