11/7/12

Dear Temple,
I hope this note finds you well and happy. Yesterday we elected Barack Obama the 44th president of the United States. I didn't vote for him, but there is no time for election hangover. We are headed for another fiscal crisis and we must work together to figure this mess out.
I hope our government can work together on this. Increasingly, nobody is willing to compromise on anything - so nothing happens. This is especially true in our Senate. This is not the way things used to be. When Bob Dole was the Senate Majority Leader he would basically put people in an office and tell them not to come out until they resolved their problem. We don't really have that now. We've become very polarized. That is not a good thing.
When you compromise on a problem to come up with a solution, it doesn't always mean you're compromising on your faith values or personal moral principles. Your morality hasn't changed. You haven't changed. You just cooperated to solve a problem. When we've lost the ability to do that, we are in pretty dicey territory. The people we elect to govern should have the ability to work out issues. This is a skill. It's easy to find someone who has values that match your own. It doesn't mean that they have the ability to work out our country's issues and solve problems. It just means they have beliefs and that is not enough to govern.
We all do this on a daily basis with the people we work with. When you get a job, become famous and send your Uncle lots of money - got lost there for a second. When you get a job, you'll work with a group of people who will have different value systems, religious beliefs, problem solving skills, intelligence, skills, etc. You will have to work together, even though you believe different things, to reach the company's goals. If you can't do that you'll be out on your posterior.
I get the feeling that making a compromise to obtain solutions to problems has become synonymous with defining you personal morality. That's ridiculous. If you and your satan worshipping neighbor work together sharing labor on each other's home projects, It doesn't mean you're now a satanist or that he's into God. It means your dang porch railing is fixed and his gutter doesn't leak anymore.
Get my drift?
I love you much and miss you always.
              Uncle Justin