Jeff Smith - Respect and Trust

What has become of trust among us? It may seem like our society has always been distrustful or at the very least skeptical of what we’ve been told. But there were certainly times when we pulled together and put our trust in respected leaders. When our country had fallen into the Great Depression, the nation elected Franklin Roosevelt who took to talking to the people through “Fireside Chats” on the radio. He demonstrated a respect for hard working families who were suffering from economic devastation by creating programs to put people back to work. The respect he showed to the people was rewarded with a trust they had in him. 

When America was attacked on December 7, 1941 the nation pulled together and made whatever sacrifices necessary to preserve our democracy. Ordinary citizens were willing to live with rations so our soldiers had what they needed to defend us. That took an awful lot of trust of our leaders and each other. Even the giants of industry agreed to retool their factories to produce the ships, tanks, shells and whatever was needed for the war effort. Yes, this nation proved we had the ability to put aside our differences and respect each other.

We can’t have trust until we find a way to respect one another. Before WWII and the Great Depression, leading up to the 1930s there was a huge disparity between working families and the wealthy. It took economic collapse and a war to force the nation to pull together and regain that respect for one another so we could trust each other again.

I want to think we can find our way to respect each other and trust each other without such a huge threat as being physically attacked by a warring nation. 

That’s a lot to chew on when all I want to get across is the notion that we all need to do a better job of listening to others and respecting a different position that someone might have. We all know for a fact that millions of people are asking how can anyone vote for Donald Trump, while millions more are saying they would never vote for a Democrat. Maybe we should all be trying to better understand the challenges we each face and why there are such strong feelings one way or the other. 

That only takes a little respect. It’s a great place to start from to help us build a lasting trust. I’m afraid we will be lost in the wilderness if we don’t figure this out soon.

Approaching a new legislative session, I always start with hope that we will find our way to trust each other enough to work together in finding solutions to the greatest problems facing citizens across the state. But first we need respect for each other. I’m not talking cordial smiles and handshaking either. I mean real meaningful respect. The kind where we take the time to ask about the kids, parents or challenges we all face regardless of who we vote for. 

Just as I don’t want to be randomly judged by someone because of my party affiliation, I should not do the same because of the way someone votes. We should seek to learn about what motivates people and find common ground. If we can make sense of each other then respect is easy. The hard part is the trust, but until we show respect, trust is impossible to build.

I don’t want to sound like I’m preaching at anyone, because I’m just as guilty as anyone. So I want anyone who has voted for Trump to feel free to help me understand. Then I’ll share what motivates me as a Democrat. That ounce of respect for one another will bring trust eventually. One thing I do know is that it sure feels better when I trust someone than when I don’t.