![]() ![]() Feel free to invite the clowns to the left and the jokers to the right if you find yourself in the middle. The middle may be an unpopular place to be stuck in, but it may be the correct place. It is a waste of your time, and it annoys the pig.” One of my often-used phrases is this: “Never try to teach a pig to sing. The chance of changing someone’s opinion who has emotionally built a wall to protect that opinion is highly unlikely. I’ve seen family members who have completely severed ties with siblings and parents. What we don’t have is an inflexible position that damages our relationship. Families, including my own, have firm opinions about some things. I’ve seen more of what I consider extremism. Facts are important, and so too is the ability to demonstrate the importance of critical thinking and how it is much more than regurgitating what is seen and heard on your “smartphone.” The divisions continue at an accelerating rate. There’s a valuable lesson here for educators, parents, and anyone who finds themselves in a position of authority, especially when acting as a group moderator. He did this by asking thought-provoking questions not wrapped in his own opinion, although he probably had some. Katims was so good at was fostering critical thinking. ![]() At the end of the course, some views may have changed, others reinforced, but what I never saw happen was the creation of enemies. He had a knack for giving value to a variety of opinions. Richard Katims was the professor of that class. What we didn’t do is go after each other because of differences.ĭr. As you might guess, there were differing opinions expressed during the course. We discussed political topics of the day. In the same decade that the song mentioned at the beginning of this blog was made, I was in a political science class in college. Maybe the entrance roads have been blocked at points of entry by the left and the right. Perhaps it is still a large space, but the public relations department hasn’t released an advertising campaign in some time. There was a time when the middle was where civility was easy to find, and it was ample space. Perhaps the wave of no accountability has played a hand in this too. They make “my dog ate my homework” seem believable after all. ![]() It’s not uncommon to blame one political opponent for things like bad weather. To be sure, our political leaders have a hand in this too. What’s worse is we repeat and repost stuff that has not been verified and may not be verifiable. What’s worse is people are attaching labels to individuals that are strangers. So often today, we are labeled as left, right, pro this, anti-that, etc. An exchange can barely be had about a movie, sports, viruses, and even music without mentioning the actor, athlete, or performer’s political view coming up. Topics that are not political become so politicized that rational conversation is shunned. ![]() Remember the 70’s song Stuck in The Middle with you By Stealers Wheel? It has a line in it, ” Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with you.”įinding room in the middle, socially speaking, is a difficult task for almost anything. About 18 months ago, I wrote a blog about extremism. Stuck in the middle with you (ah-yeah) Stuck in the middle with you Here I am! Stuck in the middle with you With you, with you, with you. Ĭlowns to the left of me! Jokers to the right! Here I am stuck in the middle with you. ah-ah yeah Now your friends they all come crawling, slap you on the back and say Please. Well you started off with nothing and you're proud that your a self-made man. Is it cool to go to sleep on the floor? I don't think that I can take anymore.Ĭlowns to the left of me! Jokers to the right! Clowns to the left of me! Jokers to the right! (Stuck in the middle) Clowns to the left of me! Jokers to the right! (Stuck in the middle) Clowns to the left of me! Jokers to the right! (uh-uh) Clowns to the left of me! Jokers to the right! Here I am stuck in the middle with you Trying to make some sense of it all but I can see that it makes no sense at all. Well you started off with nothing and you're proud that you're a self-made man yeah and your friends they all come crawling, slap you on the back and say Please. Losing control yeah I'm all over the place. It's so hard to keep this smile from my face. Yes I'm stuck in the middle with you, and I'm wondering what it is I should do. I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair, and I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs.Ĭlowns to the left of me! Jokers to the right! Here I am stuck in the middle with you. I've got the feeling that something ain't right. Well I don't know why I came here tonight. Beatles Stuck In The Middle With You Lyrics ![]()
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