[Goose]

I will say this...there are people today who claim to want to have challenging conversations.  I think that's shorthand for "I want you to listen to my grievances, grovel in abject misery, beg forgiveness and turn over $xx."  I don't think they really want a challenging conversation.

I will disagree with you here a bit. The people who are desirous of the challenging conversations are often of the belief that their arguments are so compelling that nobody could possibly respond by doing anything other than grovel in abject misery, beg forgiveness and turn over $xx. When that doesn't happen, we then see what the "real" agenda is. If the people involved are "my way and only my way", you will be right. I am optimistic enough to believe that many people really do want to reason together and come up with a solution they can all live with. It won't be easy, but it can happen in most cases. If we can just keep twitter, Fox News, CNN, etc. out of it long enough to avoid complete polarization, good (not perfect) solutions can be found.
There are many things in our society that are "broken" to one degree or another. Many of them have been let fester for years because we couldn't agree on a perfect solution. Maybe this COVID-19 epidemic can cause us to realize that we can't just sit here and let these things eat us up. We can't afford it any more.

[Goose]

I will say this...there are people today who claim to want to have challenging conversations.  I think that's shorthand for "I want you to listen to my grievances, grovel in abject misery, beg forgiveness and turn over $xx."  I don't think they really want a challenging conversation.

I will disagree with you here a bit. The people who are desirous of the challenging conversations are often of the belief that their arguments are so compelling that nobody could possibly respond by doing anything other than grovel in abject misery, beg forgiveness and turn over $xx. When that doesn't happen, we then see what the "real" agenda is. If the people involved are "my way and only my way", you will be right. I am optimistic enough to believe that many people really do want to reason together and come up with a solution they can all live with. It won't be easy, but it can happen in most cases. If we can just keep twitter, Fox News, CNN, etc. out of it long enough to avoid complete polarization, good (not perfect) solutions can be found.
There are many things in our society that are "broken" to one degree or another. Many of them have been let fester for years because we couldn't agree on a perfect solution. Maybe this COVID-19 epidemic can cause us to realize that we can't just sit here and let these things eat us up. We can't afford it any more.