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• Maxim #1: See the world as it is and not as you would like it to be
• Maxim #2: See the world as you would like it to be and not as it is

The Zebra Question

I asked the zebra
Are you black with white stripes?
Or white with black stripes?
And the zebra asked me,
Are you good with bad habits?
Or are you bad with good habits?
Are you noisy with quiet times?
Or are you quiet with noisy times?
Are you happy with some sad days?
Or are you sad with some happy days?
Are you neat with some sloppy ways?
Or are you sloppy with some neat ways?
And on and on and on and on
And on and on he went.
I’ll never ask a zebra
About stripes
Again.

Shel Siverstein, A Light In The Attic, Harper collins, 1981

American writer, Shel Silverstein, wrote a classic. It is profound and used in primary schools to teach students that the world is not always easy to navigate.

The conundrum …is a zebra white with black stripes or black with white stripes …is a futile gesture and exercise. The answer bothers a lot of us. It is neither and both. How could that be?

There are so many people living today in a stark black and white world. Right and wrong are definitive and comes easy for them. Different perspectives are often ridiculed and ignored. Many believe, “it’s my way or no way.” Some think, “I and the group I identify with possess the truth and no one else.” Their misunderstanding of philosophy and religion are often twisted or bastardized.

It is easy to dismiss them for their hardline stance. At the same time, it is equally easy to understand why they choose to adhere to it. After all, isn’t living with “absolute certainty” what we are all after? Wouldn’t it be a luxury to live with a great deal of certainty in a seemingly random and scary world?

However, reality is not so easy.

We live in a world with a certain amount of reality. We accept this if we consider the first maxim the dominate one. The maxim is, “See the world as it is and not as you would like it to be.” This reality is not an “either, or” world. The world IS as how I see it.

The second maxim, “See the world as you’d like it to be and not as it is,” allows for change. These changes can help the world be better. We believe in this maxim over the first. It becomes much more frustrating when dealing with people who insist on living the first. They think everyone should adopt their limited black and white worldview.

The dichotomy of living in two seemingly opposite realities is “THE reality.” But that makes many of us very uncomfortable. We would rather live with the certainty.

The Certainty of Uncertainty

The truth is our world, our country, is and always has been “filled with a great supply” of dichotomies. Dichotomies are around us every day. They appear as two opposing systems of realities existing side by side at once. The examples are overwhelming.

We’ll start small. One of the dichotomies we live with is the rights of an individual. Another is the rights of a society. The classic example for this is yelling “fire” in a theater. A person has the right to free speech except when that speech can cause harm to others.

Another dichotomy is a society made up of people tied to traditions. Meanwhile, another group may be dedicated to shedding old ways and insist on living a “modern life.”

“OK, Boomer. Calm down,” is where this one originates.

Heather Cox Richardson addresses the dichotomy of the American experience in her lecture series. “The American Paradox” is one of the best analyses I’ve seen. Richardson, an historian from Boston University, has spent decades studying and writing about the American dichotomies. These dichotomies, Richardson explains, are epitomized by a society. This society “was founded by many of the greatest proponents of liberty and freedom.” Yet, the majority of the founding fathers were owners of slaves.

For more decades than not, society was dichotomous. In this society, “slavery and freedom existed side by side” as the norm and reality. It took almost a century for the scales of justice to tip aligning our nation to the foundational democratic principles. And it took another century plus to cement those principles into law with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Have we arrived as a nation and fully embraced the pinnacle idea that “all men are created equal?” No, not by a long run. But we have come a long way with more to improve.

And, yet, there is a minority determined to make efforts to roll back those rights. No person or group owns the “truth” nor is there a secret knowledge given only to a select few. Each “side” of this debate condemns the other side for lying to the American people. What is true is this. For decades there has been a majority of American people who believe that all men are created equal. That belief has grown and survived the nearly 250 years since the birth of our nation.

Being committed to a tenet like “all men are created equal” requires daily dedication. Living with the understanding that we make decisions based on what is best for all, not just a select few.

Is it possible for these two competing thoughts to be reconciled? The answer, of course, is yes!

Which one is the more truer statement? The answer, of course, is both!

“The way we look out at the world changes how we see these things. Is our perspective truly giving us perspective or is it what’s actually causing the problem? That’s the question.”

Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle Is The Way, Portfolio/Penguin, 2014

Whichever maxim we agree with, one, two, or both, is our perspective the solution or the problem? For abolitionist Elijah P. Lovejoy, the solution meant observing the world as it was. He then demanded a world as he would have liked it to be. He literally spent his life calling out the injustices being forced onto his fellow human beings.

The majority of us reading these columns will never have to make such dramatic decisions. Lovejoy had to “lay down” his life for another human being. We must do our part to make our lives better. It’s also important to improve the lives of those around us. There are no legitimate excuses for not doing so.

Without any apologies.