Somewhere along the language path, English lost thou. That is, we who speak English lost the way to speak to an individual in the second person singular.

We can follow this change in our English versions of the Christian Bible. Early versions, such as the King James version, differentiate between a singular and plural version of “you.” The KJV quotes one of Jesus’ early disciples saying of Jesus: “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God . . ..” The Revised Standard, however, records: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God . . ..” Our modern English no longer differentiates between a familiar you (one person) and a plural you (more than one person.)

Various segments of the English speaking world have ways to mark that plural “you.” In my native Tennessee, I learned to say “you all” if I was addressing more than one person (or the contracted word “y’all.”) To this day, I stumble if I’m addressing more than one person. I may say something like “you folks” to avoid using a simple you to address more than one person. It just doesn’t sound right to me.

I’m more concerned, however, with our growing inability to communicate effectively within our politics. Some of it is regional, divided up into interests according to the general views of where we live: east coast, west coast, Midwest, south, plains, and so on.

Immigration is particularly divisive: how many and where from. We also have different views depending on our political backgrounds, academic standing, economic class, etc.

The idea of people, and not an elite class, ruling a country is, taking in the long sweep of history, still a new invention. Hope comes from insuring that the next free and fair election is guaranteed.

That includes reasonable discussion, dissenting from a majority if one is led that way, and, especially, regard for someone to say that with which I disagree.

Thus, I give thee permission to peaceably disagree with me.