When we came up with the idea of talking with people in various parts of the country to find out what life is like where they live, Roger and I decided that, when discussing politics, our role would be to ask questions, listen respectfully to the answers, and not try to change anyone’s mind. We didn’t want confrontations, we wanted to learn what people were thinking.
We had our first “practice” conversation last summer with a shuttle driver who was taking us from a hotel to the airport. After asking him what he thought about how Trump is running the country, we listened to him tell us about what a genius Trump is and how good he is for trade. As we got out of the shuttle, he asked what our political leanings are. “Oh, completely opposite of yours,” I responded cheerfully. His jaw dropped, and he said, “ I’ve never had a conversation with someone whose politics are different from mine that didn’t involve yelling.” He appreciated being heard.
All of that is a prelude to my conversation at a campsite in Buffalo, NY, with Dick and Joan, a retired couple from a town about 45 miles away in another part of the state. He was an electronics technician for Exxon Mobil and did radio and TV repair on the side. She was a math teacher at the junior and senior high levels for 33 years. They are enjoying retirement and have a large RV that they use for traveling. When they heard about Roger’s bicycle ride, they wanted to know if he was raising money or had a sponsor for his ride. People are sometimes surprised when we say that he is just riding across the country because he wants to.
I asked them about how they feel things are going in our country, and, because they had a Trump sign in the front window of their RV, I asked them what the phrase “Make America Great Again” means to them. Dick said that Trump is making America great with his tax breaks. Dick’s investments are earning him more money than ever with the cut in his tax rates. (I did not ask any questions about his income level.) He also thinks that Trump is doing great things for the economy.
Joan expressed concern that people want everything for free nowadays, and that liberals want to see the U.S.A. become Socialist. She told me the story of a friend of hers who emigrated from Ukraine and told her that under Socialism, they weren’t given any choices. Any benefits they received from the government were decided for them. Joan does not want to see that happen in the U.S.
I did some research, and it’s unclear whether Ukraine is categorized as capitalist or socialist, or something in between. However, it seems to me that the troubled economy and corruption there should not necessarily be an indicator of what would happen in the U.S. if certain socialist types of government assistance, such as free healthcare for all, were to be adopted.
The last comment Dick made before they headed back to his RV was that he doesn’t like that the country is moving away from Christianity. I didn’t get a chance to ask follow up questions, because they had other things they wanted to do. I might have asked whether he meant that religion should have a bigger role in political decisions, or that he feels threatened by people whose religion is not based upon reading the Bible, or something else.
At the end of our conversation, Joan pressed a ten dollar bill into my hand and said that she wanted to make a contribution toward Roger’s bicycle ride. I was very touched by her kind gesture. Whether or not people have similar political beliefs, it’s important to be remember that we can be civil and downright kind to each other.