Have We Lost Our Stomach for Democracy?

The elections are over. Winners have been declared. But as I think back, I recall the local and national outcry against the rancor and divisiveness and bitterness of the political debates as they unfolded throughout the campaigns. Frankly, I couldn't disagree more. As a confessed political junkie (it's actually one of my hobbies!) I found great value in hearing one candidate versus another candidate express passionately his or her opinions about their position and attempting to refute the validity of their opponent's argument. This is how ideas are tested. This is how good ideas are developed. This is how good ideas in a democracy become implemented. For we as a nation to have "lost our stomach" for the vigorous exchange of ideas is concerning. To avoid this necessary testing of ideas in order to maintain a peaceful atmosphere is to lose the very process by which our ideas become better. As role models for our young people, I truly believe that we in education need to model this kind of necessary and respectful--but at times oppositional--dialogue. We must be respectful and considerate, of course, but to abandon our passions for the sake of a false sense of civility makes for very little progress, indeed.