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I'm thinking to myself while walking down the street: everywhere I go lately, I encounter advocacy. At the intersection of a one-way street and a two-way street, there is written on the sidewalk at the corner, in bold purple chalk, in front of an old white clapboard house, this sentence, "Be responsible for your own life." I imagine that here lives a philosopher, and an advocate of responsibility. I wonder if the philosopher/advocate's dinner was burnt while he or she kneeled on the sidewalk scratching out the message.
An SUV scoots past me advocating a lifestyle. It roars up the one way street with a variety of environmental stickers covering its bumper. An unkempt house with a lawn in the middle of the block displays a sign that advocates for a fringe mayoral candidate. A gang member advocates in hieroglyphics on a trash can left overnight on the street. Advocacy does not appear to be limited by age or by economic status. Advocates are everywhere.
Much of the media is dedicated to advocating. It advocates for liberalism or conservativism or humanism or consumerism, for animal rights, for a healthy lifestyle or to abolish a disease. Some advocates wear ribbons on their clothing, to each cause its own color. Men in suits hold Bibles wandering from house to house knocking on doors. They advocate for salvation or for membership in a church and sometimes for both.
Some advocates advocate against other advocates citing flaws in their doctrine. Some may call these finer points of debate unimportant; yet to be an advocate, one must cling to the fine points which define their correct position. Small or large these differences count and are therefore worthwhile advocating for. It is important to be right.
Advocates become fluent in the data and/or rhetoric supporting their side of an argument. Advocates are frequently deaf to data or rhetoric of the opposite point of view. It is after all time-consuming simply listening to one side. Listening to both sides is often too much of a commitment. Should there be a third side to an argument it is traumatic enough for some advocates to simply swap their ribbon for a simpler shade.
It is after all difficult to get off-message with a linear understanding and a scripted line of reasoning. Like a one-way street where all cars go in the same direction, it is dangerous not to go in the right direction. It is the responsible thing to do. However when an advocate suddenly turns into the two way traffic of an argument, what are they to do? They may be unable to negotiate skillfully guided arguments aimed in the opposite direction. It's safer to stay in the flow, safer to steer straight ahead.
An argument can't get out of hand on a one way street of thought. Advocates don't want to be lured into a two-way street, the signs and arrows have told them the correct direction in which to think. A wrong turn onto a two-way argument is confusing and could spark original thought and unwanted wrong-way leanings to uncomfortable logic.
I'll never learn how the street philosopher would define an advocate's responsibility in life. I doubt that the sidewalk scribe would assert that advocates are singly responsible to travel in one direction for their own interests. Perhaps the philosopher would assert that responsibility requires skillful advocacy with full understanding of opposing arguments; one-way streets are seldom sufficient to arrive at a destination.
http://crankyblog.com
Just a simple curmudgeon observing life in the USA. I post to my blog regularly at http://crankyblog.com.
» left by James P Krehbiel(1,434) James P Krehbiel (188 days 12 hours ago.)
Dear Missing Link, This is an incredibly powerful article. You have said more eloquently what I have been trying to explore on this website. I believe that most people start out with a preconceived notion about how the world works and then build convictions and advocacy around a narrowly focused perspective. Those who think and reflect multidimensionally, are open to the truth wherever they find it and look at all sides of an issue before formulating their convictions. This gives one's position on any argument more integrity. I am continuously amazed at how those who "spin" refuse to reflect and question their own form of truth. Case in point is Scott McClelland who kept on spinning until he lost himself in the process.
» left by Anonymous (188 days 11 hours ago.)
James, So true! It seems to be an issue of our times that debate has almost been replaced by advocacy. The exchange of ideas seems to be too much work. Polarization can be a dangerous development in a society of diverse cultures. Thanks for commenting! Missing Link
» left by Hannah Quinn from Australia (185 days 4 hours ago.)
Missing Link,
One of the most intelligent and interesting articles I've read for some time. If you are willing, I'd like to take a copy to my philosophy group and read it to them. That won't be for awhile, though, because I'm temporarily living and working interstate. I'm building a 'dossier' of subjects to discuss and debate with them when I get back.
Thank you for an excellent read.
Cheers, Hannah Respond to this comment
» left by Anonymous (185 days 4 hours ago.)
Thanks Hannah! You are welcome to use it as you wish.
Missing
» left by Hannah Quinn from Australia (185 days 2 hours ago.)
Thanks, Missing. I'll let you know what the response was - but it will be a couple of months before I finish working here and go back home. Cheers, Hannah Respond to this comment
» left by Anonymous (185 days 4 hours ago.)
Hey, where'd my comment go? Is this some communist ploy? Where's my voice? Where's my anti-reflection? Where's the democracy? The horror of sensorship!
» left by Anonymous (185 days 4 hours ago.)
If this is Mr. Trombone I deleted your comment because it was addressed to me more than to the content of the article. If this isn't Mr. Trombone, then I haven't seen your comment, perhaps the web master censored it?
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