Can Woke/Liberal and MAGA Be Friends?

I am woke and liberal in philosophy, so people are surprised that I have MAGA friends. I am a bit concerned however, that they may no longer consider me a friend. I have much in common with the MAGA people I know, whether it be the Packers, Badgers, Brewers, Bucks, or golf, we can always talk about sports. The weather is good too, “Been pretty nice lately, but we could use a little rain.” We can talk about common friends, histories and jokes. Many times we know members of each other’s families and can ask about their welfare.

Being woke and liberal, I am always open to political discussion. There are a lot of issues to talk about. The world is a complicated place and discussion can sharpen our awareness of how our perceptions of what is happening compares to that of other people. That’s why I love my coffee groups where we can have no holds barred discussions. The problem with discussing issues with my MAGA friends, is that there doesn’t seem to be room for discussion. They get all the information they need for “certainty” from media sources, or political leaders. If one questions their sources of information, one is questioning the fountainhead of “certainty.” They feel offended. Instead of a discussion on complex issues, the conversation turns quickly into who is right and who is wrong. It appears that two people cannot have equally valid concerns that they can discuss and gain from compromise and agreement.

I dig in my heels when the conversation turns to negative comments about people I love and respect. We know six transsexual people, whose lives are very difficult. They are in our extended family and friends. We have gay friends and relatives.

We have Afro-American, Hispanic, Native American, and Asian friends and relatives. It hurts when people we know make derogatory comments about them.I know I am pretty optimistic in that I try to see the good in all the people I meet. I have traveled around the world and found kind and generous people of all races, cultures, and genders. I was completely lost twice, once in China, and once in Thailand, among people who did not speak English, when kind and concerned people stepped forward to help me find my way.

I try to extend that feeling of acceptance to MAGA people as well, however, one must draw a line, when their feeling of “certainty,” leads them to make negative cutting comments about the people whom they feel are inferiors. “Certainty” of truth, a feeling of superiority over others, a willingness to condone violence to enforce their “certainty,” and an unwillingness to discuss issues on an equal basis, are un-democratic characteristics. Woke means the acceptance of differences between people. DEI, which means diversity, equity, and inclusion, is part of being woke. I am willing to discuss the politics surrounding differences in people, but not on the merits of their basic humanity. Democracy and religions agree on the respect that each individual living body on this earth deserves. We can discuss the public expression of that respect, but not on the essential worthiness of the person involved.

I believe in meeting people half way, heck, I’ll even go just a third of the way, and give my other discussant two-thirds, if they are of a kind and generous nature. If we can see people as individuals, struggling to make their way in a complex and difficult world, instead of grouping them in stereotypes, negative or positive, we can have a constructive conversation. Many of the MAGA people I know are essentially kind and honest toward people they know as individuals. Mass media, and internet lend themselves to the proliferation of negative stereotypes. They manipulate fear, and hatred among different groups for the political advantage of a class or political ideology funding the information sources. To the degree that this propaganda is successful in effecting how a person regards their fellow humans, determines whether we can sit down with a cup of coffee and have a constructive conversation.

A country where we cannot sit down with a cup of joe, or a brew, and discuss the relative merits of how we govern ourselves, is not a country I find very appealing. Simple political answers and chaotic policy swings, based on a powerful individual’s whims, are not the way to govern a country. A nation’s problems, people and organizations are complex and make for infinite and interesting discussions on how best to organize and govern ourselves. Having some powerful, and limited, individual make decisions on governance and force them on the rest of us is un-natural and wrong. “Certainty” in the politics of governance does not exist, except in the minds of those steeped in propaganda. It is better that people of good will, with interest in the goodness of their fellowmen, sit down and try to find a more equitable, democratic, and fraternal society. I am willing to sit down and talk….I may even buy….

Rick Lohr, formerly of Marathon City, is a retired history teacher and former owner and manager of Pine Valley Golf Course. He has been retired for over 20 years but has given about 650 talks to schools, service groups and senior centers related to the 45 counties he has traveled to.