Washington, D.C. is the city of movers and shakers. The British poet, Arthur O'Shaughnessy, coined the phrase in his 1874 poem, Ode. It's supposed to refer to the great accomplishments of business leaders.
D.C. is the city of politicians, bureaucrats, thinkers, lawyers, and lobbyists. This I know. Sure, there are some business leaders, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (my home of employment for the past 9 months) is the largest business federation in the world. Still, I prefer the former.
A palpable tension exists among the primary D.C. actors. Occasionally, they derive power from "words" which is most transparent in seminars when actors engage in the Q&A battle. Audience members pose questions intending to discredit panel guests. Affiliates of the panel will rely on their stature to criticize questions that they perceive as ignorant or unrefined. Worse off, criticism often leads to laughter and additional humiliation.
This is a problem, folks. How are we supposed to engage in constructive dialogue with partner nations when we can't even accomplish it in a neutral, domestic setting? Let's make an agreement that all future questions are posed and received in a polite and respectable manner. I resent this war of "words" and hope my fellow millennials do too.
Read my Huffington Post page:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-shvartsman/
Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mshvarts
No comments:
Post a Comment