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Not Agreeing

I needed time to process the events of Jan 6 and all that followed since that time. Friends and family overseas said we were no better than a banana republic. There was pity more than there was surprise - for great things falling apart, watching the end times. Closer to the action, I found myself unable to overcome the numbness. I know a lot of folks who are ardent supporters of the president in question. Many don't hide their affiliations. When I came across this poll, I could not help wonder if the sentiments are representative of these people I know as well. Political differences can place people who are otherwise friendly to each other and have things in common, very far apart. The results of the poll are a stark reminder of how far and apart those universes have come to be. There is no place to meet in the middle anymore.

Many of my Bengali friends and relatives were ardent communists back in the day. My parents were not. I recall the adults having heated political debates when our families got together. As kids, we would listen-in amused by the colorful epithets each side used to malign the other and how some mild-manner uncle who would not hurt a fly would make incendiary remarks about breaking and remaking the system from the ground-up. It was a ton of hot-air and people bullshitting because it was a form of entertainment for all concerned. Once dinner was served, everyone would return to being friendly with each other, it was as if that political grandstanding never happened. Come election time people voted according to their loyalties and hated it when the other side won. But none of that diminished the human connection between the two sides. 

Those same relatives are still squabbling over their politics even today though there is no communist party in the mix anymore. The fight has moved on to include other actors. They still don't agree, and argue passionately about their positions. Yet, when one of them is sick and needs help, they don't hesitate a moment to call the person who hates their political persuasions with a burning passion. My father and my maternal uncle would be just such a pair. Yet, there is great love between them undiminished by all the crazy arguments and name calling - they will do anything for each other. If that scene were to be replayed in this country, I don't want to imagine how badly things could go and that is a tragedy.

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