The Echo Chamber

Last night I tried to have a civil party only to find that the subject of politics reared its ugly head.

"I take offense, that you are trying to damage the older generation of our country!" Cried one of my party-goers to the other.

"The only thing conservatives care about is keeping themselves rich!" replied the other.

In this case I was witness to what everyone has seen at one point or another, the breakdown of our dialogue from one side to the other. I would like to blame two things, Fox News and MSNBC. Granted as a liberal I was so excited to see MSNBC begin to lean left in its views; I thought it would balance out Fox News coverage. Sadly, they both have led their viewers to such extremes when comparing against the other 'side' that I can't even have a civil party anymore. Fox viewers hear that Obama is transforming the country into Eastern Europe and MSNBC viewers hear that conservatives want to rob America blind. The truth lies much farther from both narratives. While there are bad people on both sides, most of the opposition is genuine at least in the form that it contains sincere beliefs. We would all do well to remember that.

Give the Arabs Credit

Many of us here in the U.S. have been scrambling to figure out who was the real reason behind the Egyptian cries for independence. Was it a speech that Ms Rice gave in 2005? Was it Somehow Barack Obama's charm? I think the answer here might be the most obvious one, the Egyptians themselves. While we in the west would like nothing more than to assume the world moves to our tune, it's a safe bet that the people braving teargas get the credit. While social networks and twitter have made assembly easier for the protestors who triumphed, it has been Egyptian professors who have organized their students and taught political philosophy. The unemployed of Egypt, who have been the backbone of the protest also deserve credit for demanding that there be a state that is better economically than the nepotism status quo. So the next time you hear a friend talk about who changed Egypt, don't forget to make them include the Egyptians!