taking the time to listen (without bias)

Everywhere I look, I keep hearing people with conflicting economical and social philosophies raging against each other.  Those who are integral to our law making processes speak in political sound bites that spark divisiveness against every day American citizens.  Those who choose to listen, mainly pick a side in the "battle" (usually based upon personal experiences) and stay there.  "These people," by choosing to remain glued to one side, are only able to understand the concerns and ideas of that one side.

It amazes me that I'll hear remarks from someone who claims to be a "Conservative" (with a capital "C") will complain that "those northern Latte Liberals" are being unjust in their motives and continue to call them names berating them for their "ignorance" and "racism."  Then I hear from "Liberals" that those "ignorant," "uneducated" Conservatives (who, I'm guessing are all in the "Slow South" because, God forbid, any Conservative would migrate north of the Mason-Dixon line) are saying that all Liberals or Progressives are "evil Marxists" who want to take away their gun and property rights and bring Socialism to the U.S. and portraying President Obama as our Socialist Leader.  

Unfortunately, we cannot seem to get past our own victimization in order to see that we're also the ones victimizing others as well.

Recently, I posted a comment on a Facebook post in agreement to the published article with hesitation towards methods to use in order to convey the correct messages based upon facts.  Within moments I was "attacked" by a handful of people who later realized that we were all on the same page.  Although, one was kind enough to apologize for her unwarranted response, it really made me realize that we have all become so defensive in our beliefs and convictions that we're looking for arguments where, if we were to actually stop and listen to one another and tried to comprehend each others' concerns, none would exist.