Re-Evolution

Good Day, World Wide Web!

Sorry if last night's post was a little too abstract. I'll try to make this post a bit less wishy-washy.

Out of all the stories that I've written about up to this point, this one was the most emotionally affecting to me. I like to believe that people can change, especially for the better, and this piece really affirmed that in my mind.

Misunderstanding is a beast of a problem. Despite the fact that I can talk to someone on the other side of the world for fifty cents a minute, I don't really communicate that much. I've never been to a board meeting. I don't participate in panel discussions. I don't go to conventions, and I'm virtually clueless when it comes to local politics. The purpose of communication is so that I can convey some concept to you, and you will receive it, process it, and comprehend it.

Imagine working in a factory. Your job is to pick up a piece of cardboard as it comes down the conveyor belt (the cardboard being the analogy--vocab word--to the concept that is being communicated), fold it in half, and put it on a different conveyor belt, which carries it to another part of the factory. Simple communication. Receive, process, and reciprocate. Nothing too new.

But when there's a kerfuffle in some point of this process, communication fails. You don't get what I'm talking about. You're missing the point. You're not seeing my side of the problem. You just don't understand. That, my digital followers, is why Misunderstanding is such a beast. You don't understand me.

What happens in C. P. Ellis's life is that he is raised much as I am. No real local communication. Exclusion (His case is exponentially more extreme than mine, however), and eventually, desperation. When Ellis gets involved locally, he begins to communicate. He goes to board meetings. He goes to panel discussions. He makes himself heard, and he listens to other people. He hobnobs.

What he experiences is that the people who don't get around much, the people who are disgusted by shaking his hands, are the very people who are against making the community a better place for low-wage people. Those whose causes are parallel to his are the people that are honored to shake his hand. The people he speaks out against, hates, are some of the people who appreciate him the most. Because he gives his opinion. He isn't so incredibly ingrained in his views that he won't leave room for differences. And this is, in the end, what changes him.

Can we take this solution to a grand scale? Yes... and no. If every single person in America suddenly became as pro-active about co-mingling and being pro-active in bettering the groups they belong to (in this case, Ellis is pro-active for low-income citizens), then I believe that people would be forced to be more open minded. They'd meed people they never would have met. They would encounter viewpoints different from their own. They'd be forced to re-evaluate their own beliefs. Which is good.

The no part is in the practicality of this. First of all, there's no way to get three hundred million people to do this, at least, not all at once. And second, if everyone spoke out, no one would be able to hear each other. Some sort of middle ground would be nice, but I'm too tired to take the mental leap to figure out what that'd be.

Good night.