I'd Agree with You, But...

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From the moment I saw this quote, I really liked it.

I’d agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong.

It is deliciously good.  I have used it often but always in jest.  I’ve always thought about using it in some biting aggressive way but that is not my nature.

I think the political abyss in this country is fueled by both sides basically believing this quote to be true.  How naïve am I to believe there can be any hope of unity or détente when this is how people are thinking about the other party.

When Obama was elected, half of us were jubilant.  The other half of us were upset, angry, and were quick to say, “He is not my President.”  When Trump was elected, the halves flip-flopped.  The half of us that were jubilant, were distraught and were the ones saying, “He is not my President.” And the other half of us, that never ever liked Obama, were jubilant.  Now with the election of Biden, half of the country breathed a huge sigh of relief and the other half, you guessed it, began to say, “He is not my President.”

“I’d agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong,” indeed.

I have had a President every day of my life.  I may not have voted for the man and I might not have even cared for the person, but he was my president.  I have always hoped they make good, right, and just decisions for the country.  Again, I must be some kind of naïve, glass is half-full, pie in the sky, seeing the world their rose colored glasses, delusional optimist.

When I first saw this quote, “I’d agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong,” it was on a plague in a restaurant.  It was not attributed to anyone.  Today, in googling it, I learned that it is attributed to Russell Lynes.  Russell Lynes?  Another google search revealed that he was born in 1910 and died in 1991.  He was a Yale educated art historian, photographer, author, and editor.  He has other quotes that pop-up on the various quote websites but the one here is my favorite.

I have my own saying I coined before I ever saw this Lynes quote.  I came up with it when I tried to understand the extremist view in religion and politics:

For me to be right, you have to be wrong.

As I have previously written, taking an extreme view is easy.  You simply memorize the dogma and rely on that in any discussion or argument.  I do believe that people can and should think what they want.  I am suggesting that we should consider all the perspectives and then draw a conclusion.

We have somehow gotten to a point where we are team red vs team blue.  Each views the other as categorically wrong and even evil.  We only listen to news sources that feed our confirmation bias.  In both 2016 and just this week the newly inaugurated president talked about unity, the other half scoffed and ridiculed.   

I can just see the comments to what I just wrote, “if they were serious about unity, they…” fill in the rest of the sentence:

• Would have done this or that
• Wouldn’t have done that or the other thing.

I’d agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong.

For me to be right, you have to be wrong.

God help us…