Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

I avoided the debate last night.  I'm done thinking about persuasion and reason.  This election is about polarization, and I'm not sure how that can be countered, except holding the media's feet to the fire and hoping for a calming down that doesn't seem forthcoming.  I did errands this morning and put up Halloween decorations - how appropriate!  This afternoon I will call a childhood friend and read a magazine and relax.  Last night I saw "The Free State of Jones", a remarkable movie starring Matthew McConnahey, and this true story inspires and yet illuminates the dark history after the Civil War, and the long struggle for freedom that is still being waged.  Again, it seems rational that the poor would not trust the rich, yet in the South the poor blamed African Americans for the war and their dire circumstances, when it was the Confederate Army taking away their food and means of surviving.  I wish everyone could see this film, but I doubt many did or will.  Did you know their was an independent country in Mississippi after the war for a few years?  Neither did I?  We're not a nation crazy about history, even our own.  Looking the Civil War in the eye might benefit us, but we stay in rigid stances from old prejudices and myths.  If we can't see our country clearly, we won't be able to avoid repeating past mistakes.  But that's a tall order, and I haven't much faith that many will make the effort to learn from our past.