I'd like to start this off with a simple thought that I think illustrates my point perfectly. Think about it as you continue reading this, and hopefully in the midst of my ramblings you'll have a home base to plant your mind on.
Now, I want you to think about your family, however you define it. Your siblings, your parents, your grandparents, whoever it may be. Just take a small sample of those you hold dear and line them up for comparison.
Perhaps your grandfather is a war veteran and has voted Democrat his entire life. He attends church on the regular, volunteers at the homeless shelter, and thinks the government should help with universal healthcare. He's a kind, compassionate man that wouldn't hesitate to help anyone in need, but he still calls Brazil nuts “n****r toes” and he thinks that homosexuality is a sin.
Perhaps you have a brother who's an Eagle Scout and is training to be a police officer. Or another who's an Apprentice at the Union, on his way to being a Journeyman. Perhaps your sister went to a liberal arts school and picked up weed and veganism along the way. Or perhaps she went to business school and is studying to be an economist. One of your siblings is more hotheaded than the others. And another is the passionate artist of the family.
Maybe you all vote Democrat. Maybe you all vote Republican. But at the end of the day there's these little nuances to your behavior and mindset.
The economist sister might have disagreements on the effects that unions have on the workforce. The Boy Scout brother might think that red meat and hunting are essentials for life, while the vegan sister argues that it's murder. So look at your family and the few that are closest to you, and try to tell me that you all think exactly the same. That you all have the same ideas for how to fix this world or how to live one's life the best one can.
But I don't think you can honestly tell me that.
So look at all the diversity in thought that you can find within such a small sample of people, and expand that out to include your friends and coworkers. Think about all those little things that can differ between us and the paths we follow or have followed.
And now I ask you the big questions that put a transition on this opening thought:
Do you really think there's only two sides to every issue?
And if so, do you really think that one side of this forced dichotomy is going to be right a majority of the time?
Especially if these sides have gone through years of groupthink and hivemind logic, and have only been corrupted by decades of competition?
No. I think not.
So why do we do it? I'm certainly guilty of it. No matter how much I say I'm a liberal independent, because I squirm when people call me a Democrat, the truth is I often find myself thinking that the Democrats are likely right.
Now, I went to business school in South Dakota, and you don't do that and not come out with a little conservative capitalism in you, and I think that the left has pushed identity politics to a dangerous point I can elaborate on another time, but for the most part… I still agree with the Democratic party on a large swath of issues.
Maybe you're the same way. In fact, you probably are. Maybe you listen to Fox News religiously but you're also a millennial, so you could care less if gays want to marry or if men want to dress up like women. Maybe you're a pothead that's against the for-profit prison system, but daddy is a rich businessman and you guys have been Republican your entire life.
You get the picture, right?
Good. Because I'm probably being too wordy.
Basically, I think it's asinine to place all of our political policies into one of two camps, when people that are as similar to each other as physically and culturally possible can differ amongst themselves so greatly.
The reason we do it, of course, is largely because of the two-party system and partisan politics in general. And if you want to go further down the rabbit hole, which I suggest you do, then watch this video here, and learn about the “first past the post” election standards.
But that's a discussion for another day, and we don't need to delve that deep to get my point across.
So, moving on…
I didn't vote for Hillary because I liked her or even thought she was the best for the job. But I knew that it would either be Donald Trump or her in the end-- of course it would-- and I essentially had to pick my poison. I'm sure that many Republican or conservative voters can empathize with this dilemma, and in hindsight, as I'm going to argue here, we all made the wrong choice.
Our politics and elections have become a shameful competition amongst two teams, and every thought of a David for these two Goliaths is laughed off like a silly thought. And it mostly is, because let's be honest, the system is not going to change itself any time soon.
There's going to be a two-party system for the foreseeable future. There's always going to be a Republican idea in Congress, and a Democratic opposite, with the sponsored players expected to conform to their boss’ privy or owed favors.
So what can we do as citizens?
Well, the first step is to use our ability to vote.
There were over twenty candidates running for president in the 2016 election, at least five that were nationally known. And I'm not certain that my friends and peers could name every one of them, let alone give me their policy positions or describe their logic on the issues.
Sure, some of these couple dozen candidates could be considered “crackpots” or “extremists” by your average citizen, and it goes without saying that they won't be winning anytime soon, but that's not the point.
The point is the extraordinary lack of attention given to these alternative ideas. And at this stage in the tired march, after years of grinding these oblong gears together, don't alternative ideas sound nice?
It isn't your fault, of course, that you haven't heard of these candidates or considered the “fringe” in thought and politics. Until now, that is…
Because after reading this, I implore you, if you're truly soured by modern politics like so many seem to be, then start to step out of your comfort zone and do the work of thinking and researching, going out there on the Internet, and exposing yourself to the world's largest database of knowledge and information. Responsibly, of course.
Because if we're going to pick our poison, why don't we take the one that tastes the nicest?
Gary Johnson was absolutely not going to win the Presidency, but if both of the inevitable choices are less than pleasant for you to consider, and that stoner from New Mexico has some good ideas you like… why not pull the trigger?
But you don't even have to do that. You can start with the simplest of steps.
One easy thing to do is google the candidates in the months leading up to an election, obviously. Learn their platform and hear their ideas. If you like some of the things they have to say, why not adopt those ideas into your own policy and argue for them? Instead of towing the party line and nodding your head at Rand Paul’s Texas swagger.
Tonight, after you watch Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, go check out The Daily Wire and see what Ben Shapiro has to say. After you watch Laura Ingraham on Fox News, go check out what The Young Turks have to say on YouTube. Basically, expose yourself to the other side and all possible angles you can look at things from. You may just disagree with them all, but you can't ignore the fact that these ideas exist. Turn on Sean Hannity's radio program and laugh at his glaring stupidity and hypocrisy like I do... but recognize the amount of people who consider themselves a part of his audience, and actually agree with what he has to say.
Because that's the truth behind this all: no matter how right you think are, Democrat or Republican, there are always going to be millions that disagree with you.
So next time you make a Facebook post about how stupid Republicans or liberals are, ask yourself this simple question:
Do ALL the idiots of the world just happen to have the same political beliefs? Or is it more likely that there are idiots on both sides?
And if there are idiots on both sides, why can't there be geniuses as well?
Sure, these geniuses can still say stupid things, but I would venture to claim that they say these things not because they're inherently wrong or actually stupid, but rather because this team-sport competition that is our modern politics has seeped itself into our culture and society as a whole.
When I look at people discuss politics on Facebook-- and I've been guilty of this as well-- far too often I see emotion take control.
Assumptions are made about people's beliefs and true intentions. Judgments are cast and curse words are used. People are called names and there are threats of violence. Bridges are often burned and people are unfriended. Afraid of being wrong, most people just dig their boots in further and hold steady to their respective camp. If you don't fit the mold that your party has set up for you, then you're actually just the enemy, haven't you heard?
By simply empathizing with the other sides' logic, a lifelong liberal can become a racist asshole within seconds...
It's honestly getting us nowhere, and it's only dividing us further.
So, instead of defriending your redneck cousin who posts the Trump memes, go online and read why so much people agree with the President on NAFTA. Or ask your cousin, legitimately and non-accusatory, why he thinks the wall is important. Follow this up with conservative media and at least try to understand WHY they think all this, because I guarantee you it's not always racism...
Instead of going into a discussion with the intention of being right, dead set on convincing the other to change, maybe you should go into the discussion with the goal of understanding.
You'll probably still think they're wrong, of course, but the fact of the matter is: your side doesn't always win or have control. So maybe instead of fighting to the death and bickering at each other, maybe we should accept the fact that neither extreme is the best path forward? Maybe we should focus on finding a middle ground? And the first step to finding a middle ground is understanding the other side and their concerns, is it not?
Unless, of course, you want to keep playing this game where you have to vote for the "less s****y" of the candidates, then by all means. If you like the fact that Congress gets nothing done because they're too busy blocking each other's efforts, then you can just keep on doing whatever you're doing.
But as for me, I'm just tired of this s**t.
America is like one big family in a way. We're all in this boat together, aren't we? And if one day it starts to sink, we'll all be underwater eventually...
We've got our students and our educators. Our laborers and our paper pushers. Our fat cats and our Appalachian mountain folk. We've got our Alaskan frontiersman and our fishermen in Miami. Poor people, old people, smart people, dumb people.
Maybe some of us went to business school. Maybe some of are Journeymen. Not every girl was in the Brownies or likes dressing up in skirts, and not every boy can play football or even drive a car.
So why on God's green earth do we think we belong in one of two groups politically?
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading.
-DOH
