Black-and-white thinking: Choices and issues aren’t binary

A recent letter to the editor asked, “why are voters averse to the truth?” Although, sometimes it really seems that way, I think the reason for the different versions of the “truth” is that so many of us think in binary terms.

I do not see the world as real clear choices or viewpoints. I do not think of anything as all good or all bad. This is especially obvious because we all are so different. [I am glad we are different, otherwise there would not be enough of my favorite pinot noir.]

The seemingly outrageous statements by some talking heads usually have a grain of truth. Our challenge is to ask ourselves about probabilities and percentages not one person’s prediction. One mass murder does not justify taking away all guns. One welfare cheat does not justify ending a program to help others nor does it justify huge administration costs to ensure there are no cheats. We live in a diverse nation and one size does not fit all.

Because imperfect human beings are involved there will never be a perfect policy. There will always be winners and losers. The ideal is that there are so many winners that they can compensate the loser by sharing their gains.

Gary McCaig

Lynnwood

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