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Must it always be either/or?

Kate F
Generate Magic
Published in
5 min readJun 20, 2023

How about, neither?

Image by Billie Grace Ward

Democrat vs. Republican, Coke vs. Pepsi, pro-choice vs. pro-life, woke vs. anti-woke, flat earth vs. round earth…obviously, this list could go on forever.

Everywhere you look, a dichotomy is presented, dividing people into camps. These camps rarely talk to those in opposing camps, except to exchange heated words.

Perhaps your temperature went up a few degrees just seeing some of these words on the page.

It’s easy to recognize that such camps do not encourage harmonious relations.

“You’re either with us or against us.”

My dad refers to people who share his political persuasion as “one of us.” To his credit, he does associate with the “other side,” though he’ll often go on long diatribes afterward.

Certainly, he’s not alone in this.

Ok, so it’s obvious that dividing people into camps leads to divisiveness.

Let’s take this further. These dichotomies not only discourage harmony but stunt intellectual growth and expansion.

In fact, the majority of conversation in such camps, among those who share the same or very similar views, seems devoid of anything resembling thought. Mostly people are just repeating things that others with more authority in their…

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Generate Magic
Generate Magic

Published in Generate Magic

By sharing my most personal, sometimes humiliating moments, I help you find humor in your pain and use your challenges to enhance your self-knowledge and empathy so you can feel less alone on your hero’s journey. Let’s celebrate ALL the emotions.

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