The State Of Political Discourse In Our Nation

AUGUST 22, 2022

By Dannie McIntire

A recent headline of an article by Brad Dress, a staff writer for “The Hill” caught my attention; “Nearly one in three Americans say it may soon be necessary to take up arms against the government.”  

He detailed according to a new poll from the “University of Chicago’s Institute Of Politics” that a majority of Americans believe our government is corrupt and almost a third of Americans believe it may be necessary to take up arms against it.

Not surprisingly, of those polled, approximately 35 percent of Republicans and Independents held the above view, while only one in five Democrats concurred with that thinking.

That to me is a striking synopsis of the political discourse we are currently experiencing within our nation.

Perhaps most troubling to me was the statistic that a quarter of those polled stated that they had lost friends over politics.  

Now within my own circle of family, friends, and acquaintances, there are a few that the topic of politics is strictly a taboo subject; they are not going to change my mind and I’m not going to change their minds, but our difference in political beliefs is no reason to end a friendship just because they are wrong. (did I say that). 

What has caused “us Americans” to become so “opinionated” that we are unwilling to listen to opinions, and beliefs, that are different than what you personally believe?

Why can’t political debate occur without derogatory remarks being thrown at each other? Civility in the course of public discussions seems to have gone out the window.

I remember back in my school days, I belonged to 4-H, and it sponsored debating. I still remember my teacher Mrs. Kersy saying, when you are debating, if the other side loses “their cool”, it’s because they don’t have the “facts” to successfully counter your “facts”.  

I think in our society today, too few actually take the time to know the facts, too many get their “facts” in sound bites, and believe everything they’re exposed to on media and social media sites as gospel “facts”

Before the advent of the internet and the explosion of media available through it, newspapers were the primary source of “facts”. My perception as I remember those days, journalists were less politically slanted in how they reported the news, the “facts” were the “facts, let the “shoe fall wherever it falls”.    

Today, newspapers today are dying from a lack of readership, especially many of the small hometown local papers, conglomerates now control the majority of newspapers, and more often than not ensure what is printed in their paper conforms to the corporate point of view. 

A small hometown paper like the City-County Observer is becoming more of a rarity, especially when it is a growing paper. I wasn’t that familiar with the City-County Observer when I was first offered the opportunity to contribute articles. One aspect of the newspaper I did quickly notice was that the publisher printed a diversity of different opinions from all sides of the political spectrum, democrat, republican, libertarian, and “good ol’ boys”.      

On top of offering a diversity of opinions, the City-County Observer is free. Thank you to those who advertise in this paper, it allows the “presses” to keep rolling “freely”.  

FOOTNOTE:  This article was posted by City-County Observer without basis or editing.

     

 

Community planning program coaches high school student groups to enhance
development and quality of life in their home communities

Indianapolis (Aug. 23, 2022) – Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) today announced the revamp to the My Community, My Vision (MCMV) program, which connects high school students across Indiana to each other and to their neighborhoods, towns, and cities.

“Maintaining strong and viable communities is important to the future of Indiana, and we need future leaders to begin thinking about their own vision for their city or town,” said Crouch. “My Community, My Vision invites these future decision makers to share their ideas and plans with local officials.  By their involvement, student leaders will learn about the planning process and the collaborative efforts required to create an even more vibrant community.”   

In collaboration with the Indiana Philanthropy Alliance (IPA) Youth Council program and the Association of Indiana Municipalities (AIM) Mayoral Youth Council program, five selected cohorts of students across the state will participate in four months of workshops, planning, and fundraising for a place-based community project they would like to see come to life in their town or city. Utilizing the features of IHCDA’s crowd-granting CreatINg Places program, students who successfully strategize, plan, and raise a fundraising goal of between $5,000 and $50,000 towards their community project will receive a matched grant from IHCDA.

High school youth council groups, alongside their foundation or local unit of government sponsor, will work throughout the semester to determine a project, craft a budget, develop a fundraising goal and strategy, and raise the needed funds for all materials during a thirty-day fundraising campaign. Throughout the semester, students will be required to participate in three in-person workshops hosted by IHCDA, where they will learn about place-based community development, project planning, fundraising strategies, and stakeholder engagement. Each workshop will prepare students to brainstorm and reach their project goal, as well as provide networking and leadership opportunities. In the final workshop, students will present their work and success to their peers and Indiana’s community development leaders.

Local units of government and community foundations interested in having their AIM or IPA youth council participate in the My Community, My Vision program should apply to IHCDA. The full application, including checklist of additional documents, is now available on the IHCDA website at https://www.in.gov/ihcda/placemaking-indiana/my-community-my-vision/. Applications are due to IHCDA Nov. 7, 2022 with selected teams to be announced Nov. 30, 2022. The selected teams will officially kick off with a workshop event on Jan. 21, 2023.

The City of Evansville Storm Water Management Department is once again partnering with Coca-Cola Refreshments to offer free rain barrels to residents.

Starting at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, August 24, 80 rain barrels will be available for pickup in the “Back 40” parking lot of the Civic Center Complex. The barrels will be given away on a first-come, first-serve basis.

For several years, Coca-Cola has donated 55-gallon plastic drums to the City. The goal of this initiative is to raise public awareness about water conservation.