Truly, I do not know enough about economics to even have an opinion on what we as a nation should be doing about our debt right now.
But in speaking with a gentleman on a fixed income who relies on his monthly check to survive and who was genuinely frightened that his check might not come this month, I was reminded yet again how very much what we say matters to others.
Politicians and others on all sides of the debate have filled the airwaves with threats of government shut-down and of the government running out of money to pay its bills, including the ‘bill’ owed to those who receive monthly government checks under a myriad of programs.
This talk was not even a ripple in my own personal pond as I believed such talk to be hyperbole, an exaggeration to get attention. But that’s an easy position for me: I do not receive a monthly check controlled by those threatening that the money has run out.
I am reminded of the boy who cried wolf: how will we the people know when there’s a genuine crisis if every political disagreement is couched as one? And if there was no crisis this time, why would we allow people in genuine need to be so frightened that they must worry where their next meal will come from?
Musn’t we take better care not to become monsters in our effort to win the point? Shouldn’t we remember that people are actually listening to what we say? Shouldn’t we do better by them?
