Diplomacy…

Well… the mid-term elections are over.  What do you think?  Is there still hope for America?  Will you miss the political ads; emails; texts; and phone calls?  

I confess; when American politics turned to a negative campaigning technique it turned me off vs. encouraging me to "lean in".  Thankfully my wife is adept with the VCR.  Now we only watch TV shows we've recorded so we can fast-forward through the commercials.  Don't you wish we had a way to block the mass of incoming political texts; emails; and phone calls? 

I don’t know, "Who let the dogs out?" do you?  (Although here's one explanation offered by American Songwriter).  What I want to know is who turned the VOLUME UP?  Susan Cain wrote in her book Quiet © that our current predicament involving relentless, extroverted, bombardment of shrill, negative messaging might be even worse than we realize: 

We are ourselves a nation of extroverts - which means we've lost sight of who we really are.  Depending on which study you consult, one third to one half of Americans are introverts - in other words, one out of every two or three people you know. 

Hopefully, you have not lost sight of who we are.  We 33% to 50% need to find a way to reverse the trend of extreme, extroverted voices dominating daily broadcasts, true?  It's OK to have disagreements.  But do we have to be so disagreeably LOUD when advocating a point of view?  Can we no longer find that lost land called "common ground"? 

I'm thinking our day-in and day-out discourse could use a little more positivity, true?  Wouldn’t you rather see diplomacy emphasized.  One online definition of "diplomacy" comes from Oxford Languages: 

the art of dealing with people in a sensitive and effective way.  "his genius for tact and diplomacy" 

Does that sound like our current setting to you?  Again, how much diplomacy went into the ads leading up to November's elections?  (Sorry, sore subject I know.  Not very sensitive of me. I apologize.) 

I'm optimistic that the mass of Americans are ordinary, reasonable, tactful people just like you and me.  We ordinary, introverted types can still influence things through diplomacy: 

Diplomacy is the art of letting someone else have your way. 

Daniele Vare

Call me old fashioned, but I miss the quieter times of statesmanship; courtesy; tact.  No longer do candidates promote their action plan; their track record; their specifics.  Attacking the opponent now overshadows the way of the world.  It's an age-old strategy: 

The best way to defend is to attack and the best way to attack is to attack.  At Chancellorsville, Lee was asked why he attacked when he was outnumbered three to one.  He said he was too weak to defend. 

George Patton 

Of course, focusing on negativity is not isolated to famous military generals or American politics: 

A story is told of a Woman Member of Parliament who, after an extensive tirade at a social function, scornfully told the Prime Minister, “Mr. Churchill, you are drunk”, to which Churchill replied, “And you Madam, are ugly.  But I shall be sober tomorrow.” 

Do you know when or where we left the diplomatic path that had been in place for centuries? 

Every action done in company, ought to be with some sign of respect to those that are present. 

French Jesuits in 1595 

A sign of respect in every action - now that's something I, for one, would vote for! 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.