Letters

Beyond ‘zero sum’

Let’s move beyond zero-sum, at least for Christmas.

“Zero-sum” describes a situation or game in which whatever is gained by one side is lost by the other. It describes the divisiveness that Publisher Gordon Forgey wrote about when he noted that political “campaigns are reaching new levels of vitriol and ridiculousness.”

The zero-sum mantra, “winning is the only thing”, seems the cry of politics, religious extremism and climate change. Polarization is ubiquitous. Reasonable discourse is mutilated by extremists who revel in name-calling, “gotchas” and lies.

Are there ways to bl...