"Every year around this time, the noise starts to drop. The pace eases a bit. Families gather, neighbors reconnect, and people who disagree on just about everything still manage to pass plates across the same table. Something about late November into December nudges us toward reflection. Whatever you call it holiday spirit, cultural memory, or just a pause in the chaos it's real. And in a country this divided, it might be the reminder we need most."
"Because the truth is simple: America has never thrived by choosing one ideology over another. It has thrived because our competing visions push, restrain, and refine each other. We forget that at our own risk. I grew up in a time when political conversations were part of life, not a reason to exile someone from it. You could disagree without severing the relationship. The center wasn't seen as a weakness. It was maturity the space where people with different temperaments and values"
Late-November into December prompts quieter, reflective gatherings where people with deep disagreements still share tables. Political disagreement used to coexist with relationships; the center represented pragmatic maturity. The United States was designed as a deliberate blend of philosophies—national strength, local skepticism, compassion, and corrective conservatism—so friction among visions provides balance. Fiscal patterns show wealthy, urban, blue-leaning states generate more federal revenue than they receive while relying on energy, agriculture, manufacturing, and natural resources from rural, red-leaning states that receive more federal spending. Geographic, demographic, and economic interdependence ties the country together.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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