By William L. Garvin
Over
the course of my years, I have been privileged to reap the counsel of many
people who are wiser than I will ever be.
Much of their wisdom has faded into the recesses of an aging memory but some
has stayed with me as personal, lasting immutable truth. One team of psychologists wrote in a
memorable treatise as to how, as a society, we have fallen into a pattern that
is dangerously oriented toward “raw
advocacy” rather than “pure dialogue”, the latter defined as
the search for meaning via the free flow of information. Another lesson came from a distinguished
executive who said the following: “I will always tell you the truth, based
upon the facts that I have available to me at this time. I reserve the right to change my mind as
additional facts become available.”
To paraphrase another well respected author: “as a society, we have fallen into a pattern of making technically accurate
statements with the intent to deceive.”
As
a left brain dominant male, I know that I do gravitate toward discussions that
rely heavily upon facts. I am also aware
of my tendency toward raw advocacy when it comes to matters of principle with which
I have wrestled for years and have reached what, at least to me, are logical
conclusions bolstered by available facts.
That is not to say that I am devoid of right brain emotional
responses. Logically knowing my faults
as a man, husband, father, citizen, and Christian does not inure me to feelings
of regret and sorrow. It does however
spur me toward trying to be a better person in all the aforementioned
categories.
Not
surprisingly, I also respond to emotional attacks upon myself and my
compatriots in an all too typical “fight or flight” syndrome. Being old and with bad knees, I no longer
have the flight capability of youth.
Being blessed with a modicum of wisdom and experience, I do have the
ability to discern between fact and fiction and choose to stand and fight the latter.
For
instance, as a conservative, I am frequently called a racist by people I have
never met. I have a son and daughter who
have each blessed me with two beautiful “mixed race” grandchildren. As a proud grandpa, my two granddaughters are
beautiful beyond compare and my two handsome grandsons make Adonis jealous! I would vote for Ben Carson or Allen West in
a heartbeat, and despite his flaws, believe Martin Luther King was courageous
and showed incredible humanity. I also
believe the policies and leadership of Barack Obama are unfortunate failures for
his presidency and for the United States.
I believe these decisions are based on fact not skin color.
I
am also told than because I am a conservative, I am waging a “war on women.” Apparently I have no mother, wife, sisters,
daughters or other close relations of the feminine persuasion with whom I have
any particular affinity. This is as
nonsensical as saying that because I am a conservative, I’m for “dirty air and
dirty water.” Apparently, conservatives
like myself have an indefatigable supply of clean air and clean water that is
not accessible to the leftist perpetrators of this canard! Furthermore, conservatives are nothing more
than “corporate shills.” One letter
writer even suggested that the Koch brothers were my “patron.” If so, the brothers are way behind on their
payments! Nobody pays me anything for
putting my pen to paper, excuse me, my fingers to keyboard (old habits die
hard!), not even this newspaper. And if
you ask my wife, I spend far too much time researching thoughts, ideas, and
facts before I commit anything to print.
By the way, I hardly ever quote Fox news in order to avoid provoking leftist
angst, vituperation, or apoplectic fits.
I
also believe that the United States is a remarkable, an exceptional country
that has spread more wealth over a broader spectrum of its citizens than has
ever happened in history. I believe that
the founding fathers were brilliant intellects as did John F. Kennedy when he
quipped at a 1962 dinner for 49 Nobel laureates that the evening was "the most extraordinary collection of
talent, of human knowledge, that has ever gathered at the White House, with the
possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”
So
if you think that because I believe the Constitution restricts the federal
government to specific enumerated powers, that I believe free market capitalism
provides the greatest opportunity for the most people, that I believe the
massive federal debt is a threat to our security both individually and
nationally, that I believe government spending and regulation is out of
control, that I believe our God-given rights stem from Him and not from
government, therefore I am some kind of radical, right wing terrorist…then here
I stand!