Ouch!
Eve Pearlman eloquently addresses the issue of community discourse in our small town:
As parents and grandparents, we’re charged with modeling for children adult modes of communication: Speak the truth, be tactful, listen carefully, search for common ground. And then there’s that old-fashioned idea — we are a town that celebrates old-fashioned values, no? — that, as a family, we’re all better off when we’re all better off. This idea can be extended to our nation or, at least one hopes, our town of 70,000 souls.
I wish it weren’t the case, but in Alameda some topics provoke disturbingly polarized discourse. Name-calling and willful misunderstanding replace measured conversation.
Two weeks ago I wrote a column about my family’s choice to give up our cars. We’re seeing if we can navigate the challenge of family life this way; we’re trying to lessen our negative impact on the environment. Little did I know that my description of our experiment would provoke hostility by some who, somewhat mysteriously, imagined that I was putting myself in a pro-development camp.
Kudos!
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