To the editor:

As Americans, we all want a country where we can speak our mind and live our lives within societal norms… without restriction. The United States has done well for over 250 years; but, tempers are flaring. People are polarizing…right/left, red/blue. The more polarized we become, the more violent the rhetoric, the wider the chasm between us gets. It is time to stop, to listen. We all want to be able to speak from the heart, the mind. And, we should. We all grow, if we listen, and integrate, thoughts from others with our own. Different perspectives, ideas and thoughts produce innovation, growth.

If we all become conservatives, or liberals, we will become stagnant. If we quit speaking, and listening, to other voices, we will no longer be thinkers, no longer the United States of America.

I, personally, do not want to live under a rule of law that forbids learning from others.

Deb Egeland

New Ulm