kenlaidlaw

Here I am, stuck in the middle with you… and you know what, it is where I want to be. After my last blog a few people suggested I should do more of them, since I have retired, I no longer have an excuse not to.  So, this particular blog is to set the tone for what I hope will be a fortnightly wander through my thoughts on the world around us.

The middle isn’t comfortable, it isn’t exciting, but it is where most of us live. Physically, spiritually and emotionally.  I want to challenge some of the things we all take for granted, and some of the things we think we believe. The news we consume, which, if we’re honest, shapes our worldview far more than we admit, needs to be questioned too. But I also want to show that we generally all want the same thing, even if we don’t agree on the methods.

We live in a world where social media is so vast and invasive that the old media we grew up with had to adapt just to stay relevant but more importantly, to stay profitable. This pushed media outlets toward more extreme positions as they scrambled for relevance.  Clickbait headlines, rushed reporting, a lack of rigorous fact-checking, and at times a ‘well, it’s out there now’ attitude have created a world where we can no longer be certain that what we perceive to be true, actually is.

This has naturally led to a polarisation of media coverage, the middle isn’t interesting, it doesn’t sell newspapers.  However, it doesn’t elect politicians either.

And here we are, stuck in the middle with no way to return to sensible solutions.  We now live in a world where all the conversations happen on the extremes, that’s where the money is, that’s where the noise is, and where all the exciting action is. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it highlights the plight of the marginalised.  But real politics for all of us suffers because of it.  It is a distraction from the real job our politicians should be doing for us. It is an excuse for our media to make easy money without doing the real leg work.  Most of all it’s lazy, from all of us and we should do better.

Calling people fascists or communists, racists or bigots dismisses legitimate conversation.  We need to engage with our friends, colleagues and even family members and when it gets tense, understand. it is a difference of opinion.  We don’t love or like them less, we just have different ideas. Those ideas should be cherished, debated and you should be open to moving your position if you feel the need without recrimination or embarrassment.  If you listen with an open ear and an open heart, I think you will find that most people want the same thing.

That is where I want to go with this blog: the idea that perhaps you aren’t really getting the full picture. Perhaps what you are being told is just a very loud protest group. Perhaps the world isn’t quite as terrible as you think. Perhaps the silent majority understands that we have a pretty good life relatively to the alternatives and perhaps that is worth saving.

The middle isn’t indecision; it is where real life happens. It isn’t sitting on the fence; it is where we live.  Extremes are where the arguments are, but there is so little real gain on those extremes, we shouldn’t make policy based on it.  The vast majority of us support those extremes existing, we just don’t want the whole world to revolve around them, especially our world.  Politicians, however, thrive on those extremes. They don’t believe them but they do know they mean votes, employment and power.

So, what am I asking of you, my reader?  Well suspend for a moment what you believe to be true, read what I am saying in good faith, and if you don’t think it is challenge me. But read to the end, make your own decisions and be honest with yourself. Question everything but be happy that different people have different opinions, it’s a good thing and something we should all enjoy.

And if we can do that, maybe we can pull the conversation back to the middle — where most of us already live.