Don't Blame the Democrats...

Voice & Vision | U.S. Politics & Civic Responsibility

By TLS

The Democrats didn’t cause this current mess. The Republicans didn’t cause this current mess.

We caused this mess.

Bitter, polarized, hatred. That pretty much sums it up I think. But why? Because that’s what the vast majority of us gravitated towards. We fell for the hype, and the lies, and the propaganda, and the grand standing, and the never ending story “they are your enemy!” It doesn’t matter which side you’re on or your perspective, Dems, Repubs. Both groups are trying to consolidate and fear sells like hot cakes!

But how did we get here? Politics has always been contentious but, yes, it’s worse now or at least seems to be. There are lots of reasons: lower quality education (another whole post on its own), lower quality news sources, social media and the AI algorithms behind it, foreign interference, less patriotism to One Nation, etc. The list could go on for quite a while. Most Americans today think the other half, or maybe the other majority, are their mortal enemies. This is simply not the case, but it is the perception, and perception is reality, unfortunately. Add into this a political candidate that spreads chaos like wildfire and we feel like we’re living a nighmare from which we cannot awake.

Opposition is normal. Of course, not everyone agrees about everything. It is difficult enough for two people to live together for any amount of time without issues arising. Ever heard of marriage? Increase that to 300 plus million people and things get spicy real quick. But, typically we had a common goal, the success of our community, our state, our country to keep us moving in a general direction. This is not necessarily a given anymore. We need to keep communication open. We need to be able to work together. Public debate is needed to address our issues. How do successful marriages work? Communication and commitment to each other. How do successful countries work? Communication and commitment to the nation.

Unfortunately very little debate happens anymore. Primarily what we see now is grand standing. If an informed opinion is expressed and it doesn’t agree with the current direction of the ‘twitter-mob’ that opinion is decimated. Good-bye public discussion. Today one must stand on the highest platform and scream with the loudest bullhorn to even be seen. Never mind hearing, who cares about actually hearing (and evaluating) what the message being screamed is actually saying?

Americas form of government breeds a two party system. Years ago in a political science class, I read in the textbook an interesting bit of information. Unfortunately I don’t remember the book or author so I can’t provide a better explanation. The book though, clearly and easily explained how and why Americas two-party system works. Essentially, the way our form of government works inevitably breeds a strong two-party system. It doesn’t matter which two parties, just that there will eventually be only two strong parties. Fringe parties may exist but are unlikely to come to power.

This was contrasted with the British form of government which allows for several small parties to function, combine, support others, or not, come to power, then fade.

I don’t really remember there being a “pro’s and con’s” between the two forms of government. They’re simply just different. The point was Americas system will most likely always have two strong parties. Which probably does encourage “them vs us” or polarized thinking. This is something of which more American’s should be made aware.

We have to work with confrontation. No system is perfect even though it seems some believe that’s how it should be. Those are people who almost certainly have unrealistic expectation in other parts of their lives, it probably shows too. We have to deal with adversity, it’s part of life.

We need to work towards each other. If we don’t try to meet others in the middle, those left might only see their enemies from the poles. Please America, turn away from the extremism and polarization. America is a world original when we come together. The American experiment is unique in this worlds’ history. We are a young country but have (with minor foot notes) the oldest continuous democratic government in history.

Side note: there are some tiny islands and other areas which claim longer but, name one. We’re talking world relevance here.

We must stand united, or…

There is no guarantee this American experiment will continue into next week. Bear that strongly in mind moving forward in life! The only thing that keeps it together is the commitment of its citizens to keep it “A More Perfect Union.” If that commitment stops, and we can no longer stand together, we will certainly end divided.

We can do this!

If you still believe in this experiment called America, act like it. Stop feeding the division. Talk to someone who sees the world differently. Question your favorite source, not just your least favorite one. The American story isn’t over, unless we stop writing it together.

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