{"id":450,"date":"2022-02-10T08:21:32","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T08:21:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hidelight.com\/?p=450"},"modified":"2022-02-10T08:41:35","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T08:41:35","slug":"we-cant-figure-out-how-to-define-our-disagreements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hidelight.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/10\/we-cant-figure-out-how-to-define-our-disagreements\/","title":{"rendered":"We can’t figure out how to define our disagreements"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I spend a lot of time thinking about community in the context of how Hidelight and AR might help bring us together. While thinking on the topic a convoy of truckers rolled into town, and for the last two weeks, I’ve been distracted. So I wrote about why I think the two sides are so far apart on this issue.

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08\/02\/2022

If you\u2019re like me you really hate what you’ve been seeing in the news over the last two weeks. It may be because you support one side, and you think the other ignorant in the extreme. That is not what I despise about the narrative that I’m seeing played out. I see divisive politics playing an ever-greater role in the Canadian discussion. We got here because we couldn’t figure out how to define our disagreements. Of course, it\u2019s always been this way, but it\u2019s getting worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve noticed in social media and comment sections on news sites each side acts at keeping an open mind. I\u2019ve seen a few instances where commentators agree to disagree, but mostly I see one group repeatedly using the same bunch of arguments against the others\u2019 equally unchanging talking points. The outcome is disagreement and belittling the other\u2019s beliefs. I have yet to see any evidence of one side convincing the other. This isn\u2019t a generalization; I\u2019ve spent the last two weeks doom-scrolling and not once have I seen anyone persuaded by a rival assertion. As someone who has often allowed myself to be swayed by a good argument, I am shocked at how far apart we are on the topic of the convoy occupying Ottawa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before I go further I must confess I\u2019m extremely biased. I have a dog in this race and I\u2019m angry as hell at the other side. I\u2019ve seen a lot of bad behaviour over the past two weeks, not second-hand stuff, I\u2019ve gone deep into the other side\u2019s space and I\u2019ve personally experienced some repulsive situations. People I know and trust have reported similar first-hand events. It\u2019s probably obvious which side I support, but that\u2019s not the issue I\u2019m writing about here. I\u2019m going to do my best to set my opinions aside and address something else I\u2019ve found glaringly obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dilemma is that everything happening is being distilled down to two camps and each one is having a different discussion. It’s less that we have two opposing sides, instead, there are two different games being played and each side is playing a different sport. Both sides are lacking an opponent, meaning each is arguing unrelated topics. We’ve all seen this played out in political debates where candidates take turns answering the moderator’s questions. The speaker doesn\u2019t even bother replying to what they\u2019re asked, they respond with their talking points. The moderator might ask them how they plan on tackling the national debt, or what are the Colonel\u2019s 11 secret herbs and spices, and their responses would be the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A simplified distillation of the debate happening right now is that we all want to be rid of the pandemic. The people against the convoy mostly trust science. They want to let public health professionals, scientists and politicians create a strategy that guides us as a group. Folks supporting the Convoy think they should be allowed to decide what goes into their body. They want to exercise the freedoms they\u2019re used to without government intervention and determine for themselves what is safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While my synopsis above may be the root of our differences, this is not where we currently find ourselves opposed. We\u2019re not arguing the pros or cons of the above statements, we aren\u2019t arguing the same points; like the social media confrontations, we\u2019ll never be able to agree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One side of the argument we\u2019re having is that people in Ottawa are angry about being occupied and sick of the noise. People across the country that have an opinion and are on team Ottawa think the convoy consists of a bunch of fanatics that should leave or be forced out. We\u2019re angry about finding our neighbourhoods overrun, our lives violently interrupted and the possibility that in the future any group with a gripe will decide to occupy our city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, team convoy is angry about vaccine mandates. At least that is where their arguments started. While their message has shifted (many times) they continue to focus on political and public health demands. They want their lives to return to the way they remember them before anyone heard of COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of our anger comes from a similar place. In Ottawa, we\u2019re angry at our municipal leadership. We can’t understand how they let this occupation happen. Theories are being conceivable floated that those in power not only bungled this event but tacitly approved of it and possibly helped with logistics. We\u2019ve long experienced a lack of direction from our municipal politicians. After many local instances where we\u2019ve laughed, banged our heads or rolled our eyes at the ineptitude of those in charge, we’re finally seeing the serious repercussions of having people without vision running our city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the same statements are being made by the convoy about our federal leaders. They think the people at the top have treated them, and our country, in much the same way that locals feel let down by leadership in Ottawa. They think that ineptitude and possibly even criminal negligence have brought us to the point where we have been unable to live our lives. They don’t believe in the science the federal government is using as their North Star, instead, they feel that they should be able to choose what\u2019s right for their family. They are angry at our federal leaders and have created theories to help explain the negligence they see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we are arguing these points we might be able to get somewhere with this stand-off. Most people in Ottawa would accept a convoy of people arriving on foot, hiking to the Hill and maybe even camping there. They have every right to voice their displeasure with the government. In Ottawa, we host protesting citizens regularly. Unfortunately, we\u2019re not debating this issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I visited the convoy\u2019s occupation lines I could understand how they think their movement is full of peace and love. Everybody in the Convoy is having fun, it’s like the festivals we remember from before the pandemic, where people got together, smiled and said hello. They’re singing and dancing in the streets. Hundreds are arriving downtown to visit the convoy, and they have nothing but wonderful things to report; many come back more than once. Those convoy tourists are angry about being called racists and perpetrators of violence. Most haven\u2019t looked into the leadership behind the event or pulled a mask off of anyone\u2019s face. They want to be free to make personal choices. When they leave the party they can’t sympathize with the people of Ottawa who don’t have a quiet place to retreat and they don\u2019t realize what it must be like to have their neighbourhood appropriated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, people in the city are being held hostage by fellow citizens seeking freedom. The irony is heaviest here. Still, this is the place where we are closest to the spirit of debate, where each party has an opposing view. The people of Ottawa want peace, and many visiting the convoy want a ruckus party. If we had this as a point of discussion, we would be able to come up with a compromise. I can imagine a big outdoor maskless festival full of peace and love, and even honking horns held somewhere far from Ottawa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, we all know these aren\u2019t the points at the root of this standoff. Our problems, once again, boil down to the opposing sides having different discussions. The convoy supporters think everyone should be on their side because they\u2019re fighting for everyone\u2019s freedom. People aligned with the convoy don\u2019t understand the immense privilege they\u2019ve enjoyed compared to other people who\u2019ve come peacefully with their messages of opposition to Ottawa. They think they\u2019ve taken over the city by themselves instead of through the ineptitude, and possible collusion, of the municipal powers. They feel they should have an equally unobstructed path made for them to speak with\/depose our PM. They don’t understand that protesters bring their messages by foot, while people driving giant unstoppable vehicles and blocking roads are called something else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the citizens of Ottawa want the horns to stop, the diesel to disappear and the convoy gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By allowing these separate arguments to become a dichotomy we have fallen into another us vs them. We see this happening often lately. The people that want the convoy gone are finding themselves described as Trudeau supporting sheep, scared into forever needing masks, letting the government run our lives while supporting multinational tech, traditional media and big pharma. Meanwhile, the convoy folks are being pegged as racist, alt-right, un-educated terrorists. I don\u2019t see myself in any of those descriptions. My opinions, like everyone else\u2019s, are more nuanced. The problem with pegging someone down like this, especially when we\u2019re not debating about the same things, is that once labelled we might eventually come to identify with a tag that would normally be foreign to us. If someone from the convoy side is repeatedly called alt-right then they may start to accept that classification and even come to embrace it. We are leaving less room in the middle when we start to see everyone that disagrees with us as part of a fringe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have reached a place where we can never resolve our differences because we can\u2019t even agree on where we disagree. Most of the country feels disgusted by what the convoys have done to our cities, especially the capital. Now our disagreements have become a dichotomy like we’re used to. Even though we can\u2019t agree on where we disagree it has become an us versus them situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of us don\u2019t believe that our leadership should give in to any demands of the convoy because they are holding the city hostage and their demands don\u2019t make sense. While the convoy won\u2019t leave until they are granted concessions. We got here because we couldn’t figure out how to define our disagreements and talk about them. We are all playing different games so that nobody can win or even declare a draw. And if we don’t figure out how to talk about the same things soon, I don’t see how will ever be able to play together again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We find ourselves being hoisted into opposition to people instead of talking about our differences because it\u2019s impossible to discuss anything when we can\u2019t define where we disagree. I don\u2019t know if we\u2019re picking sides because that is something our species does or if contemporary issues are becoming so complex that we can\u2019t come together to agree on the rules for debate any longer. Or maybe it\u2019s democracy\u2019s fateful outcome, just like disagreements brought down the originators of the democratic ideal more than 2000 years ago. If we don\u2019t find a way to define our disagreements I worry not only that we won\u2019t be able to solve this problem in the capital but that greater chasms will separate the sides until each team turns on the other we burn down the arena.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I spend a lot of time thinking about community in the context of how Hidelight and AR might help bring us together. While thinking on the topic a convoy of truckers rolled into town, and for the last two weeks, I’ve been distracted. So I wrote about why I think…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hidelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hidelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hidelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hidelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hidelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/hidelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":457,"href":"https:\/\/hidelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450\/revisions\/457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hidelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hidelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hidelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}