Would you be willing to step out of your own bubble?
This year, Central Florida Public Media and StoryCorps have been bringing together strangers with differing political views for a guided conversation. Recently, two Volusia County residents sat down for a conversation.
Mark Barfield, a former newspaper reporter and a Libertarian, sat down with Tom Mondloch, whose father worked for the federal government administering aid for farmers in the Midwest.
“I’m caught in the same bubble as many people are, and how do you get out of that?” Mondloch said. “So today’s an important step in my journey into more honesty about what’s happening in the world and less hyperbole.”
Barfield agreed.
“We all see the same thing, and I think we process the same events and everything in similar manners,” Barfield said. “It's just our frame of reference and our concept of what solutions are that really start to push us in weird directions.”
Meet Mark Barfield
Mark Barfield is a native Floridian, and currently lives in Orange City.
He spent a career working as a newspaper reporter, and now owns a political marketing firm. He’s the vice chair of the Libertarian Party of Florida and chair of the Libertarian Party of Volusia County.
He said his newspaper career ultimately led him toward the Libertarian party, and reporting in low-income areas brought him out of his own bubble.
“People may not look the same, or they may not even do the same stuff that I would be into, but really, their worldview is every bit as valuable as my worldview,” Barfield said. “People have the same concerns. They want to eat, they want to not have other people bother them.”
Meet Tom Mondloch
Tom Mondloch grew up in a small town in Central Minnesota, and now lives in Ormond Beach.
His father worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and moved the family to Washington, D.C. to work for the federal government.
“He's somebody who, you know, taught me much about the value of government programs, particularly with farmers out in central Minnesota, who, without the supports that were being provided, would not fare well,” Mondloch said. “I guess I learned from him that there is an important place for government in our lives.”
The Takeaway
Barfield’s family grew up in the citrus industry, and his family lost the groves in the 1970s because of back-to-back freezes.
Barfield said that, even with his family history, he doesn’t support federal subsidies for farmers.
“That was their choice to go into it,” Barfield said. “I don't feel as a taxpayer, I should subsidize their choice.”
Mondloch said that ultimately, the end result of not helping farmers is higher prices and instability for consumers. But, he said, he could “really become convinced” of the idea that maybe more taxes should be based on user fees.
“I have learned so much from you today,” Mondloch said. “I could really become convinced that there is some real value in that, to apply it in places where it's not being applied.”
StoryCorps’ One Small Step and the Radio Station Hubs are made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
