I am not a political person. I just want to put that out there. My knowledge on democratic versus republican tax plans, the great welfare debate and the general ins-and-outs of the United States political system is limited. I understand the basics, but past that is a murky sh*t storm I care not to wade through.
With that in mind, it has come to my attention that the divide between republicans and democrats over the past few decades has become cavernous. Neither side wants to work with the other, they constantly argue, they refuse to believe almost anything the other side says (even if it is a simple objective fact) and they each have a tendency to feel as though they are the superior party.
I am not going to go into detail on every point, nor do I have a high enough word count to provide real world examples for everything. However, I do want to talk the danger this growing frame of mind can have on us all if we are not careful. Specifically, the tendency to ignore the opposition's argument. I don’t mean responding or fighting back (there is plenty of that) but actually dissecting the argument, trying to understand it (possibly learn from it) and THEN responding with a counter opinion. It may just be me, but it really feels like an individual’s party allegiance has become so strong that a debate is no longer an intelligent discourse of ideas but rather a shouting match based solely on the idea that their party is superior just because. And that is not right, It is not politics and it is dangerous.
It is dangerous because it leads to blind faith, it leads to ignorance and it leads to failure by a government to be truly run by the people. I ask you, how can a political system truly embrace popular sovereignty when the people do not even understand what they are voting for? For example, if you base your voting by party instead of by person or by policy and then you elect someone who enacts policies you disagree with, can you really blame them or was your blind party allegiance at least somewhat to blame?
To be frank, in the United States neither side (republican or democrat) is perfect, neither side has “the answer” to all of America’s problems and neither side is entirely morally sound or corrupt. These political parties were established by-- and are run by-- humans, so they can only be as perfect or fallible as us….and we are certainly not lacking in the fallibility department. That being said, we should be doing better, we can be doing better, we NEED to do better.
I am not advocating anyone drop their party affiliations or feel inadequate because they are a party voting citizen. What I am advocating for is critical thinking. To those who read this, I ask that the next time you read an article about a specific political issue, or find yourself debating politics with a friend, take a second to really examine both sides of the argument. If you come out the other side with the same opinions in tact, then those opinions will be stronger for it, but if you find yourself forming a middle ground opinion-- a bipartisan opinion at that-- do not be afraid to embrace the change and move forward with a better understanding of your political positions and the argument you hold for it.
And if everyone starts doing this, then maybe, just maybe, politics in this country will evolve from a cavernous divide to a mutual respect and bipartisan effort...maybe.
