Conversation Salons - A Solution For Our Divided Nation?
Went to a Conversation Salon the other night.
In case you haven't heard these are gatherings of people who want to talk issues.
In a time when people are tuned into either Fox or MSNBC I thought this might be a good opportunity to hash out the issues in a controlled environment.
And I was curious.
I had read about Conversation Salons and a friend of mine knew the people sponsoring one.
The people having the salon live in a suburb of Chicago and their house is a nondescript ranch in sea of red.
The suburbs are mostly Republican once you get outside of Cook County and so I was very surprised when I walked into 1968.
The hosts greeted me with flowers in their hair as the song goes.
Hippies.
They were hippies and the woman a lawyer by day wore no makeup and had a long flowing Woodstock dress on.
Just make yourself at home.
The place was jammed.
We walked through beads and saw rooms with pillows on the floor and no furniture.
John Lennon and black light posters adorned one room and the other was more brightly lit.
I got the word that if I was mellow I would head for the blacklight room...
if I was more vocal then I should go for the brightly lit room.
I headed for the light.
The conversation started off with a question What did the last ten years mean to us.
The crowd of middle aged people sprinkled with a few twenty somethings started off badly.
A man who worked in the automotive industry harangued everyone about cars and what our oil based economy has been doing to us for the last ten years.
I quickly realized he was not giving up the floor.
I looked at the moderator who listened politely.
Finally, I jumped in.
How about we talk about the last year where we have a President who has been marginalized and the advent of a new populist party.
Boom.
We were off to the races.
People jumped in and talked over each other.
Factions developed.
Heated exchanges.
The crowd was very left and I jumped in again with How many people here watch Fox News.
No hands.
How about MSNBC? Hands.
Where were the Republicans? Boom.
We are off to the races again.
A quick break for wine and cheese to gas up and we are back at it.
What's wrong with America? Why won't the Republicans say yes.
Why can't the Democrats get it together? What's with Sarah Palin? How could a guy with a pickup take Ted Kennedy's seat? Where are the Independents? Did Obama blow it being too hands off? Is China eclipsing America.
Is America falling like the Romans? We talked and talked.
I lost my voice at the end.
It was amazing in a way.
Politics has become race in this country.
You just cant talk about it.
People avoid the subject, move away, don't invite you back if you bring up current events.
Even old friends cant discuss issues without getting squeamish.
The Conversation Salon at least makes an attempt to engage people on issues of the day.
If we could get people of both parties there, who knows, we might actually make some progress.
In case you haven't heard these are gatherings of people who want to talk issues.
In a time when people are tuned into either Fox or MSNBC I thought this might be a good opportunity to hash out the issues in a controlled environment.
And I was curious.
I had read about Conversation Salons and a friend of mine knew the people sponsoring one.
The people having the salon live in a suburb of Chicago and their house is a nondescript ranch in sea of red.
The suburbs are mostly Republican once you get outside of Cook County and so I was very surprised when I walked into 1968.
The hosts greeted me with flowers in their hair as the song goes.
Hippies.
They were hippies and the woman a lawyer by day wore no makeup and had a long flowing Woodstock dress on.
Just make yourself at home.
The place was jammed.
We walked through beads and saw rooms with pillows on the floor and no furniture.
John Lennon and black light posters adorned one room and the other was more brightly lit.
I got the word that if I was mellow I would head for the blacklight room...
if I was more vocal then I should go for the brightly lit room.
I headed for the light.
The conversation started off with a question What did the last ten years mean to us.
The crowd of middle aged people sprinkled with a few twenty somethings started off badly.
A man who worked in the automotive industry harangued everyone about cars and what our oil based economy has been doing to us for the last ten years.
I quickly realized he was not giving up the floor.
I looked at the moderator who listened politely.
Finally, I jumped in.
How about we talk about the last year where we have a President who has been marginalized and the advent of a new populist party.
Boom.
We were off to the races.
People jumped in and talked over each other.
Factions developed.
Heated exchanges.
The crowd was very left and I jumped in again with How many people here watch Fox News.
No hands.
How about MSNBC? Hands.
Where were the Republicans? Boom.
We are off to the races again.
A quick break for wine and cheese to gas up and we are back at it.
What's wrong with America? Why won't the Republicans say yes.
Why can't the Democrats get it together? What's with Sarah Palin? How could a guy with a pickup take Ted Kennedy's seat? Where are the Independents? Did Obama blow it being too hands off? Is China eclipsing America.
Is America falling like the Romans? We talked and talked.
I lost my voice at the end.
It was amazing in a way.
Politics has become race in this country.
You just cant talk about it.
People avoid the subject, move away, don't invite you back if you bring up current events.
Even old friends cant discuss issues without getting squeamish.
The Conversation Salon at least makes an attempt to engage people on issues of the day.
If we could get people of both parties there, who knows, we might actually make some progress.
