What did we learn from the recent government shutdown and debt ceiling fiasco? Well, the world does indeed seem different when seen through just one eye, whether one covers the right or left eye. It is more than depth perception that is sacrificed. What is lost is any relation to the world as it really is. Like one-eyed cats, our politicians seem to walk into walls, whether on their left or right, depending upon which eye they choose to cover. To some extent, cable news practiced the same single vision one-sidedness, deliberately distorting or taking quotes out of context to favor one perspective over another.

Personally, I thought my sanity was under attack, until I saw a license plate frame the other day with the following inscription: “Inner Peace” (above the plate) and “World Peace” (below). On the plate itself was an abbreviation of the car owner’s name. I wanted to contact and thank him or her for reminding me wherein to find peace of mind. Simply accepting a world of opposites is the best prescription for a dissembled mind. Oddly, conflicts can lead to lasting resolutions, but only when they are seen for what they are: diverse perspectives on the same reality. This more comprehensive view works not only for the individual, but for groups, communities, states, and even the world. Yes, if we could multiply inner peace by the number of people on this planet, we would likely attain world peace–though I would settle for a working Congress. After weeks of government shutdown and debt ceiling mania, our political parties finally put down their “talking points” and called an armistice without gaining any advantage for one side or the other. More importantly, for those of us who watched the cat fight, nothing worthwhile was gained, and no vital issues were resolved. As the President said—and the Speaker of the House agreed—there were no winners or losers. The country would have benefited more if Congress had simply extended its “vacation” through October.

It’s true: one-eyed cats tend to walk into walls.