Neither Black Nor White, Just Gray


Let me start by saying that I do agree with some conservative principles.  I also agree with many progressive principles.  Alas I am still in the middle.

·         I do NOT believe government should mandate social behavior that infringes on our individual rights, but I believe that government should wrong social injustice

·         I believe in the long term we need to address our debt and fiscal responsibility, but in the short term we need to be promoting growth.

·         I believe our armed forces need to be the best equipped, best armed, best trained, and best led, but I do not believe we need to outspend the next 17 countries combined.

·         I do not believe in government takeover of private enterprise, but I do believe government should facilitate and nurture emerging technology.

·         I do believe that shale gas and oil can enable a manufacturing renaissance in America, but I also believe we need to do it safely and effectively.

·         I do believe in organized labor, but I also believe in meritocracy.

·         I believe you can be pro-life, and pro-choice.

·         I believe we need to be the world’s leader, but we should not do so unilaterally.

·         I believe local communities are best equipped to identify and implement education reform, but I also believe it is a matter of national economic security.

·         I believe charter schools can lead to improvements in education, but I do not think they are the only solution.

·         I believe corporate marginal tax rates should be lowered to 25%, but I believe no company should have an effective rate less than 15%

·         I can be pro troops and support the men and women in uniform, but oppose the

This is but a sample of how it is possible to find middle ground.  Unfortunately when the conservative half of the equation has become unwilling to engage with the progressive half, we end up with a complete impasse. So to get something done the progressive half will move towards the conservative half in the hopes that something can get done.  The problem is the conservative half plays a zero sum game; a game that means they may oppose the very things they believe in if the other side also believes them.  They are the half that denies and excludes; it is a lack of emotional intelligence.

Yes, I can intellectually and emotionally understand an issue and develop a belief.  A belief that includes logic, empathy, calculation, and humanism.
I guess I am gray.

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