In a go-go-go world created by 140-word Tweets and attention spans that evaporate in 33 seconds, Americans push hard to “get to the point.” It’s a fine attitude for a few issues, such as … well, none come to mind, but there are a few.

Issues – and the people who have an opinion about those issues – are usually a giant sticky mess with hundreds of variables. Change one variable and you change the discussion.

However, hundreds of variables take many minutes to analyze, and we simply don’t have that kind of time.

Black and white issues that are really gray, purple or pink

• Gun control. It’s not everything-with-a-trigger-is-my-Constitutional right versus no-guns-at-all-in America. It involves types of guns. The topic also pulls in mental illnesses, freedom of expression, personal security and a hundred other variables.

• Sexuality. Right now we have two and a half: straight, gay and bisexual, with a few people thinking bisexual is really a station stop on the track to Gayville. But sexuality is a mystery. Where do pedophiles come from? How does a foot fetish develop? How do prisoners switch from straight to gay-is-okay when cell doors lock? The discussion drags in privacy, human rights, diseases, the Bible and a hundred other variables.

• Religion. It’s easy to define people by their religion, but even similar denominations have idiosyncrasies. The Ku Klux Klan considers itself Christian, as does Billy Graham and the Pope. A small percentage of Muslims believe it’s okay to bomb foreign countries and tear down thousand-year-old artifacts. Ninety-nine percent don’t, and, in fact, find that misinterpretation offensive. If the Christian religion has a hundreds of different denominations with individualized beliefs, why would other religions be different? This one has thousands of variables, with some beliefs specific to a congregation of one.

• Politics. Not all Republicans oppose abortion and want a 60-foot fence separating the U.S. from Mexico. Not all Democrats want to give food and healthcare and shelter to any family making less than $100,000 per year, damn the cost. The party names may indicate a general leaning, but hard definitions on both sides make compromises a challenge. They also short-change the moderate Republicans and Democrats who realize American should be a cheering squad, not a debate club. The U.S. doesn’t have two opposing opinions on public policy issues – it has hundreds. No thousands. Even people who agree don’t always agree.

• Racism. We expect people to completely ignore differences, as if human beings would never notice skin color. As a matter of survival in a complex world, we’re allowed to size up the way someone is dressed, their height, the length of their hair, the way they talk and how they handle burping and farting in public. Of course we notice skin color. It’s human. It’s not whether we notice – it’s how we feel about skin color once we do. And that discussion involves history, economic systems, media portrayals and a hundred other variables.

• Immigration. Beyond the finders-keepers theory of America – the one where whites arrived 250 years ago, claimed America as their and now think possession is 99 percent of the law – most people see value in a comprehensive and fair immigration policy. “Build a wall” isn’t a solution, it’s a Twitter post. Most immigrants aren’t drawn to the American dream, so much as escaping an unacceptable life. This issue involves at-risk children, struggling families, U.S. economic needs, safety concerns, pragmatic growth decisions and a hundred other variables.

It’s hard to operate in this world and avoid black and white opinions – and harder to change one. But world peace relies on more questions and fewer answers, more listening and less lecturing.

If we continue to make political sound bites the be-all/end-all answer to complex problems, we’ll never accomplish anything.

© 2015 SmithTakes.com