John Paradis’s opinion piece of a month or so ago (“Just keep driving”) seems to have struck some nerves.
As a frequent road traveler, I can sort of understand, but the tone of his column seemed to put the onus on the rest of the country. Each of us can take others as individuals or as members of a class or group. The more time you spend trying to sort people into groups, the less time you spend looking at what makes them unique or different.
I found myself remarking, in some of those same parts of the country, on how very different their needs were than mine as a city dweller (at the time I lived in a major city). Of course their view of government was going to be different. Ours, here, is very different from where I used to live, and part of the attraction.
But I was happy in my old location; had friends, had relatives, had activities. I think my point is the more we demonize “other,” the farther we go toward a tribalism that is extremely human, but also extremely damaging to our ability to understand each other.
Wendy Parrish
Northampton