Middle Ground: A Youtube Series Trying to Bridge The Gap
One of the most stressful things about holiday get-togethers is just how angry it can be. I know from a lot of my friends who do not live locally that they often angst about returning home because home isn’t just eggnog and holiday ham, it’s dealing with polarizing political viewpoints. A friend of mine told me that when he goes to his family they all make it clear early on: no politics.
So that’s why when I came across this series “Middle Ground” on Youtube with the video “Pro-Choice and Pro-Life Supporters Seek to Find Common Ground” my instinct was to roll my eyes because these kinds of videos are always meant to be clickbait. Which totally worked because I clicked on it.
Instead of the usual yelling straw-man arguments I am used to from the internet, it was fairly civil and well-structured conversation that I was waiting to devolve at any moment. Yet it didn’t. Partly because the moderator has the conversations timed to only last a certain amount before the groups separate, but that still works. Now, I didn’t walk away agree with the “Pro-Life” people, but I could at least appreciate that we could have the conversation.
As of today, there are only six episodes the most recent being “Cops And Ex-Felons Seek To Find Common Ground” and all of them offer really a surprisingly nuanced conversation. It features two cops and three ex-felons talking about their experiences with the law, the justice system and how for poor and marginalized groups the law and justice system doesn’t seem like a fair one.
Does it go far enough? I think it goes as far as it needs to without turning into the comment section on…well anywhere. What do you think?
(image: Screengrab)
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