A determination to reduce all things to a few conflict-free sentences is one of the biggest forces behind fascist movements from the Armenian Genocide to the Tea Party. Complexity and nuance are at the very heart of responsible adulthood. Fight that as such and you are an enemy of democracy and reason. When a situation is reduced to one factor, to "the thing that really matters is…", it cannot be understood in any useful way.
Watch this talk. She gets it just right.
Then read this and think about the dangers that we face.
I hate those who need to reduce everything to comfortably tidy simple stories. Hate them. They are enemies of all that lives. We are facing problems defined by their complexity. Global climate change.
My father was born in Missouri. My mother was born in New York City. They met and married in California, where they both lived for years and where I have spent quite a bit of time myself, from San Diego in the early 70's to the Bay Area in 2009. My stepfather was born in Tennessee. I was born in Panama City, Panama. I have lived in Panama City, New York City, Pittsburgh, Portland, OR, and Milwaukee. Which am I? Am I a New Yorker? A Panamanian? An Oregonian? Which is the "correct" answer? That's a stupid question.
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