Do not settle for substandard conduct.

For unacceptable ways of talking to and of another

Even if – especially if – they are among those you disagree with

Or maybe prefer to not understand.

Do not settle for substandard leadership.

For unbecoming ways of working with some who oppose your views

And yet are part of you

Part of your country

Part of what holds a mirror to your blind spots

And what makes you into

Who you are and can become.

Don’t settle for the substandard fantasy

That misleads you to believe yourself somehow better

Than another

Because of your religion, gender, party, origin, or baseball cap.

You are not.

Better.

We are all of us defined by our actions, not our acronyms.

We can be raised or felled by the choices that we make:

To go low

Or rise above

To sink into the mire

Or to raise the discourse

From the gutter

Back to civilized.

Do not settle for substandard

Language

For slurs and rudeness not fit for the ears of anyone

Let alone our children.

Settle not for the reactivity of hate and violence

Of disdain for the vulnerable

And disregard to others whom you declare guilty by an affiliation

Different than yours.

Do not settle

For substandard influence

When you know better.

Raise the standard.

So those who keep lowering the bar

Not think it has become the norm

To celebrate the rude or bow to the crass

When either are so

Very far

Below par.

For The Daily Post