Column: Setting the stage for our 2026 discussions

By Dan Kontos

After last week’s column and the quasi-whimsical side quest into the tantalizing world of bourbon, you never know what we will discuss from week to week. However, one thing that you can be assured of is that we will never stray too far, or for too long, from the topics surrounding local government. It is my bread and butter, so to speak.

So, as we look at all of the things that will be coming up during our foray into 2026, I think we need to set the stage for how we will be examining the happenings in the Metro Point/Plover area. I simply want you to understand, it’s not too terribly personal after all.

There are many differing ideas, perspectives, philosophies, and levels of interest when it comes to local government. I’ve framed our conversations into various ways to look at this, such as our discussions on left versus right (as much as I dislike the two-dimensional analogy), right versus wrong, and even good versus evil. I don’t ever want to seem melodramatic, but sometimes simplifying the argument has the broadest effect.

I always want to understand those who disagree with me. It’s admittedly difficult at times to genuinely maintain sufficient patience to get through what is often a seemingly incoherent argument, based on emotion and feelings, with a genuine sense of wanting to belong to the collective, rather than mentally distancing yourself through logic, facts, and foresight.

In order to understand what drives certain people to think the way they do, I believe that it’s helpful to look not at their motivations but at the mental environment in which they operate. It is the intertwining of beliefs and ideology that clouds judgment and forces some people into a direction that baffles the rational mind.  Allow me to explain.

You see, when beliefs become personal and take on the quality of ideology, you respond to criticism and disconfirming evidence, not as feedback that can help you rethink your views, but as a personal attack on you. You feel the very real need to defend yourself. You build a community of like-minded individuals to defend your stated beliefs at all costs. This echo chamber or bubble (if you will) only insulates you from the true realities of this world.

In this setting, facts and logic don’t matter. There’s no humor or introspection. No acknowledgment that you could be wrong. You find yourself defending positions that might even be irrational or ridiculous, not because they’re right, but because the alternative means having to rethink yourself and the possibility that you are wrong.

This is the path an idea takes to become an ideology, to become something that in your mind is fused with your identity. It’s a familiar corridor in today’s world, and unvetted social media makes it all the more worse. When beliefs become personal and are intertwined with your ego, you reject feedback. You lose sight of the goal: truth. You forget that the hallmark of rationality is being open to feedback and rethinking your original thoughts. The only way to accomplish this is to disassociate your identity from your ideas to remain a rational creature who updates their mental model accordingly and seeks to understand rather than simply be understood.

This is all the more exacerbated when people lose their moral compass. Without a strong sense of absolute right and wrong, the problems are not only multiplied, but the arbitrariness of the selective application of “morality” and what is correct in the world defies logic.

I don’t dislike those people who disagree with me. You should be free to think the way you wish. I never set out to personally attack people, but I will attack bad ideas. However, I simply cannot abide by those who become so radicalized and invested in their own ideology that they abash, denigrate, or even physically harm someone else, simply because they will not acquiesce to their championed Borg-like hive mindset.

It’s a failure to fundamentally and genuinely respect other people who may disagree with you. It’s a failure to exercise your communal humanity. It’s a failure to utilize the very gift of intellectual discernment that we were all born with. In other words, you’re an irrational and hypocritical hot mess. Sorry, I’ve got to be honest. I’m not going to sugarcoat it; I’m not Willy Wonka.

I just can’t rationally grasp all of the illogical concepts and flights of fancy. Like, the world will boil over in ten years (as said for the last 50 years). My body – my choice (unless you’re an unborn child or someone who doesn’t want to take an unproven experimental vaccine). You can’t define what a woman is (but are confident in saying that a man can get pregnant). The Orange Man is a fascist (but it’s fine when your side weaponizes the government and actually imprisons people for purely political fictions). Socialism is good – capitalism is bad (as posted to social media from your $1000 iPhone, and despite a century of history to the contrary, sporting a 100% failure rate.). Screaming intolerance (while shouting down people who don’t think like you, or even celebrating their assassination). Still wearing a mask in public, or even by yourself alone in a car (despite dozens of studies showing that they do absolutely nothing to protect you). The list goes on, and on, and on.

So, as we discuss the world around us for the next year, try, just try, to break out of your default stance on the various topics that will challenge us in 2026, and face life with actual facts, real news, and an open mind. You are free to try to change my viewpoint on things through respectful discourse. I only ask for the same courtesy in return.

Life can’t be all bourbon and sunshine, but we can try.

So, with that, let’s meet in the opinion section to talk about all of it, boldly, with actual intellectual honesty, with an appreciation for all points of view, and with a healthy respect for each other. Until then, remember that God loves you, and so do I. He sets the ultimate standards, not social media.