Dwain Northey (Gen X)

As a rideshare driver and one that listens to political podcasts and news (left leaning) I invariably get some push back but sometimes can lead to an interesting conversation.

It’s true that I have never been someone that shy’s away from uncomfortable topics i.e. politics, religion… I fact I relish those back-and-forth topics as long as the other person is amenable to the conversation.

I was listening to something this morning and the topic was the strained platform of the current republican party, namely their restrictive position on abortion. Always a touchy topic and everyone has their opinion which I totally believe that everyone is entitled to have their view, but they also have to understand that others can disagree with them.

Well during this the rider said that this was a touchy topic because he was currently in the middle of that debate with his ‘girlfriend’ because she found out that she was pregnant. She does not what to continue with the pregnancy and it is still very early on, but his opinion is why does she get the final say if he doesn’t agree with it.

I asked him how long they had been together, and he said not that long… but. But always leads to something but he didn’t go any further.

So, I asked if he had plans to stay with his girlfriend and potentially support a child for the next 18+ years? All I got was silence.

Then I proposed the equity of time argument… I said realistically your part in the act took minutes, but you expect your girlfriend to invest a minimum of 40 weeks and all the health and emotional issues the come with pregnancy, that is if she doesn’t want to keep that child. I reasserted that he hadn’t affirmed that this was a situation that he was ready to support for possibly the next 18 years.

This begged the question of how his belief that abortion was wrong eclipsed the other parties when they would be the person with 100% of the responsibility of this accident growing inside their body. He really hadn’t taken that argument into perspective and when he exited that car appeared to be second guessing his position.

I propose that next time someone disagrees with your position on any controversial topic each party politely explains their position (perspective) on the subject and then see if there is some common ground or enlightenment from either side. This I feel has been lost in today’s very tribal mentality and needs to be reestablished.

I have a suggestion for our current political upheaval, ideas should be presented unvarnished with no party tag line and be judged purely on the merit of the idea presented. I have read party platforms to very ‘conservative’ people and had them completely disagree with the premise until I tell them where it came from, then invariably they tell me that I am lying. But whatever…

We used to have ideas that move us all forward but differed on the route we should take to get there, now if the idea, good or bad, comes from a position party is instantly denigrated. Take for example MTG coming out and saying that Biden is actively helping the build infrastructure, ensure access to healthcare, and creating jobs… all good things right? Not to the republicans they are wholly against all of these because President Biden is getting them done. They have lost PERSPECTIVE, the one thing that can save us.

Thanks for putting up with another rant.