Hole in the Wall
Black's Generalizations Are Wrong
RECEIVED Wed., Jan. 3, 2007
Mr. Black,
Please take a step back from wherever you are and reconsider your column in the Dec. 29 issue [“Page Two”]. It appears to me that you are assuming much too much about the attitudes and views of most of the people in this country. Your column begins with how "we" are so extremist, "denounce compromise" "know exactly what each [good and evil] is" and that "[e]vil is what motivates those who disagree with us." Then, more disturbing, is your statement that "almost all of us insist that certain of our beliefs represent such immutable ... morality that ... they must be legislated." How can you possibly know what "almost all of us" believe? Or even what "we" believe? In actuality, I think you are wrong about what most people think and believe. Of course, I can't really know either, but my experiences and those of my friends and relatives leads me to the view that a majority of people are still tolerant and open-minded, at least most of the time. Perhaps you listen to too much right-wing talk radio or other similar sources – and I mean this in all sincerity. Your columns for some time have seemed so pessimistic and dark, almost, at times, paranoid. Yes, there is much evil in the world, and ignorance and stupidity, and it can be depressing. But it is not true that "almost all," or even, it seems to me, a majority of people are as you described. Rather, I think most are not, at least most of the time, but instead they have at least some ot the attributes of people you know and admire, such as, as a small example, your friends and co-workers.
Please take a step back from wherever you are and reconsider your column in the Dec. 29 issue [“Page Two”]. It appears to me that you are assuming much too much about the attitudes and views of most of the people in this country. Your column begins with how "we" are so extremist, "denounce compromise" "know exactly what each [good and evil] is" and that "[e]vil is what motivates those who disagree with us." Then, more disturbing, is your statement that "almost all of us insist that certain of our beliefs represent such immutable ... morality that ... they must be legislated." How can you possibly know what "almost all of us" believe? Or even what "we" believe? In actuality, I think you are wrong about what most people think and believe. Of course, I can't really know either, but my experiences and those of my friends and relatives leads me to the view that a majority of people are still tolerant and open-minded, at least most of the time. Perhaps you listen to too much right-wing talk radio or other similar sources – and I mean this in all sincerity. Your columns for some time have seemed so pessimistic and dark, almost, at times, paranoid. Yes, there is much evil in the world, and ignorance and stupidity, and it can be depressing. But it is not true that "almost all," or even, it seems to me, a majority of people are as you described. Rather, I think most are not, at least most of the time, but instead they have at least some ot the attributes of people you know and admire, such as, as a small example, your friends and co-workers.
James Thomassen