By Jim Dickson
There has been much said and written on the subject of pronouns as of late. What used to be a pretty simple group of words that we used in place of a noun, both in conversation and writing, has become much more complicated and, to many of us, confusing, especially in the new area of non-gender pronouns.
I am not going to attempt to walk through that mine field today, because my ignorance on the subject is sure to offend someone, if I have not done so already. Although I am making an attempt to understand it, because like it or not, it is now a part of our culture. But for this piece I am going to confine myself to only a few common pronouns, most of us use every day.
First I want to talk about US. “Us” consists of all the people who basically agree with me on most subjects. These are the smart people of the world who have taken the time to learn the true facts about what goes on, especially in politics and economics. They know, as do I that unless things change and change soon, this country is heading for big trouble.
We, US people, know that THEY, the ones who are not US, are wrong and are doing everything that THEY can, either intentionally or through ignorance to bring about the downfall of the United States. We don’t know and can’t understand what their motivation is, because THEY are lucky enough to live in the greatest country on the world, so why would THEY want to change it?
Although I don’t pretend to understand the thinking and motivation of THEM, but I would not be too surprised to learn that THEY think that WE are THEM and THEY are US. That THEY think that we, meaning US, are the other half, who are not at all as smart as we think that we are, and our thinking is outdated and wrongheaded, and they are right and we are wrong. I don’t think that we have ever been a country where everyone was a WE, but as I think back it sure seems like the country was a lot more WE than US and THEM, and it worked pretty well for most everyone.
I don’t know when or why we as a nation got onto this track, but I am pretty sure it’s not the right one. If we don’t find a way to come together again as WE The People of The United States of America we are going to find that what Abraham Lincoln wisely said at another time of division in our country was true then and is true now, “A house divided against its self cannot stand”.
WE have lots enemies who would like nothing better than to see the downfall of The United States. That would be a disaster for us all, and for the rest of the world. It is past time that WE began to understand that none of us are 100 percent right and none of us are 100 percent wrong and come together to break down THEM and US and become mostly WE again. It can be done; all it takes is to stop listening to the crazies on both sides and for reasonable people to come to the middle for the good of all. What some would like us to forget is, we have more in common than we have differences. Let’s start to work to find common cause, and 2023 would be a good time to begin.
Born, raised and educated in the Southwest, Jim Dickson served in the U.S. Navy Reserve in Vietnam before a 35-year business career. Retired to St. Helena Island, Dickson and his wife are fiscally conservative, socially moderate and active in Republican politics, though they may not always agree with Republicans. Having lived around the country and traveled around the world, Dickson believes that the United States truly is the land of opportunity.
