A married couple had an argument and stopped talking to each other. Instead, they were leaving each other notes.
One evening the husband handed his wife a note that said, “Wake me up at 6 a.m. tomorrow.” The next morning, he woke up and was alarmed to see it was 9 a.m. Furious, he turned over to confront his wife, but she wasn’t there. On her pillow was a note that said, “Wake up. It’s 6 a.m.!”
It’s obvious that the continued refusal of this husband and wife to permit discussion would lead to more problems. It’s also obvious that the elimination of discussion in our country is equally destructive.
Much like a marriage relationship, there are always two sides to every story. Regardless of the issue, there is always a flip side.
For example, while electric cars are being promoted as a solution to reducing carbon emissions, the flip side fact is that battery production causes more environmental damage than carbon emissions alone. Spills from lithium mining in Latin America, fumes and waste water from cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and heavy air pollution in northeastern China, are just a few of the regions impacted.
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It’s also common for legitimate organizations, which provide contrary evidence regarding climate change or a carbon tax, to be labeled climate change deniers. This conveniently allows such contributions to be ignored, and eliminates any discussion about what is the best solution for all concerned.
Another example is Bill 9 in Alberta, designed to protect the choice of women by threatening Albertans with charges if they say anything negative about abortion within these city-block-sized zones. The bill attempts to protect women from anti choice influences.
However, the flip side on this topic has a study showing that 64 per cent of Canadian women having abortions reported feeling pressured into the procedure. In an age of empowerment and choice, many women said they were pressured by husbands, boyfriends, parents and other authority figures. One woman said she was pressured by a counsellor at a clinic.
Other women attested to refusing to give into the pressure, chose to have their babies and never regretted it, even though it wasn’t an easy choice to make. Bill 9 is one more example of the flip side being silenced, effectively shutting down transparent discussion that could empower women in making choices.
There’s always two sides to every issue. When those two sides join together, it creates an environment of working together for the well-being of Canadians. However political correctness prohibits this from occurring by refusing to listen to anything that disagrees with its theology. Rules and regulations are enforced to control thoughts and language. When these language rules are broken, it results in termination of employment, boycotting, fines, shame, court battles and intimidation.
It’s hazardous to the well-being of Canadians when sufficient evidence isn’t believed because it disagrees with personal opinion. It’s hazardous when the media repeatedly expounds upon selected information, while other information is completely ignored. It’s hazardous when we glean our personal views from comedy shows and media speculation and bias.
The truth can be difficult to accept, and the truth is that there will always be a flip side. Even if it’s ignored, it will not go away.
Like the husband I mentioned earlier, we cannot afford to be complacent and assume someone else will wake us up and tell us it’s time to talk about the flip side.
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