Cash for Clunkers ends on Monday. Depending on who you listen to, this program was either the “best economic news story in America,” an environmental non-event (or even potential disaster), a temporary economic boost that will soon fade, an additional barely disguised bailout for auto manufacturers, and even an argument against government-run healthcare. Everyone has an opinion about it and everyone will give you their take.
Unfortunately, at this point, all the opinions are just reduced to a lot of noise. When everyone is standing around in a room yelling at the top of their lungs (healthcare town hall meetings, anyone?), not a lot is said. And while everyone comes away feeling like they’ve said their piece, are you really saying it if no one is listening?
I worry that the debate over some of our most important issues has been reduced to auditoriums, chat rooms, blogs, tweets, status messages and sometimes even dinner tables of yelling. And lately the debate seems particularly fear-based, with little regard for facts, data or logical reasoning. From grandma-killing death squads to climate change legislation hammering the last nail in the coffin of American manufacturing, it’s become a question of who can find the scariest thing and yell it the loudest. And that, perhaps, is the scariest thing.
This noise is something that doesn’t contribute to the actual discussion of the issue. Fear mongering, inaccurate assertions, or rehashing things that are no longer relevant or have already been resolved – these are all noise. Even things that once were meaningful or emotionally compelling can be reduced to noise through redundancy. I am sorry to say it, but I have seen five too many photos of polar bears on melting icebergs this week.
So what are we to do with that. How do we stop the noise? How can we foster a meaningful conversation in the face of all the yelling.
I have no idea, but this is what I’m going to try:
- I am not going to be a yeller. I will try my best to contribute in a constructive and meaningful way, or I will keep my mouth shut.
- I will not be noise. I will not tweet noise, I will not Face Book noise, I will not fill anyone’s RSS feeds or inboxes with noise.
- I really will try to be reasonable. I know there are far more than two sides to every issue, each with its own valid arguments. We gain nothing by ignoring each other’s points.
I truly believe that we can return to a constructive dialogue about the problems that we, as a country and a world in jeopardy, face. But it will take everyone jumping on board and committing to reducing the noise and stepping up the dialogue. The only way any of us will be heard is if we shut up and listen for a while.
