There’s a big crack in this country, probably in much of the world, but definitely here (in the USA). I used to talk about this a lot with terms like Great Sideways Divide. This came about from my metaphorical description of the polarized struggle between left and right. While you can make the reference to politics, it was and is intended to represent the broader conflict, whether it is based on political ideology, religious belief, bigotry and hatred, greed and corruption or just ignorance.

The left-right metaphor is appropriate because these are always sideways views. I’ve often related the view that if one person travels left and other travels right, both to the extreme, they eventually meet up at the South Pole trying to sell each other a slightly different brand of tyranny.

So, there’s gotta be a better direction. I stand for “Up!” That is also the editorial position of Tradeshow Blues. This, in my view, is the positive direction, not necessarily a political position. I doubt there will be an “Up!” political party. A movement – maybe. A way of thinking – I hope so. In any case, our general thinking needs to shift. But how does that happen?

For years I’ve used an old (and unoriginal) analogy to suggest a broad stroke solution. It’s the “pail-of-dirty-water” example and it’s short and sweet. Stick a hose in the pail and turn on the water. Soon, the water is clean. Of course, you could just empty the pail and wash it out, but then you would just have an empty bucket. Go with the example as it is.

Things can change – one pail at a time. We can do this. We just all have to be the hose!

I feel caps, mugs, t-shirts and much more coming on.