Shared Humanity |
by Sean R.
|
Ask yourself this question: Have you ALWAYS been right? Do you live in a world of perpetual perfection? Chances are that you answered no to both of those questions. A few more: Have you ever made the wrong decision? Picked the wrong option? Made bad choices? Chances are that you answered yes to all of those questions. They were pretty simple. We know that we aren’t perfect. We know that a truly perfect human is rare, if one exists at all. With these facts in mind, we don’t expect perfection out of ourselves. We know that we’re flawed human beings that do not have all of the right answers. One last question: If we know this, then why do we believe that our side of the political spectrum is always right?
Whether or not you agree with the official party’s decisions, the line in the sand has been drawn. On a wide range of topics, Republicans tend to line up on one side while Democrats line up on the other. We tend to agree with the same people on diverse issues, such as abortion, foreign policy, welfare programs, criminal justice, and civil rights. Many of these issues have nothing to do with each other, but our teammates are almost always the same. More importantly, our opponents are almost always the same, too. But why? Isn’t it weird that a majority of Democrats agree on fiscal and foreign policy? Isn’t it strange that a majority of Republicans also agree on fiscal and foreign policy?
A few reasons can explain this strange phenomenon. The most sensible is the underlying philosophies, but that doesn’t explain everything. If Democrats champion big government, then shouldn’t they want a big military? Classic Republicans try to limit government in many areas, but they want to continue to grow the military. Republicans want to legislate morality in some ways (marriage, drug use) while Democrats want to legislate morality in other ways (equality, hate speech). Both parties have these deep contradictions, but it hasn’t shaken party lines. If underlying philosophies cannot explain this partisan split, what can?
The biggest factor is who we listen to and who we brush aside. We tend to read/watch publications that we agree with and avoid the ones that we don’t agree with. Digital curation has only increased this by figuring out exactly what we like. Companies like Google and Facebook have used deep analytics to know exactly what content to deliver us. They know which friends should go to the top of our newsfeed, what advertising to show us, and what news outlets we believe. To paint with the broadest of brushes, liberals & conservatives aren’t even reading the same news, so we can’t agree on even the most basic facts.
And thus, we have found our problem. By selectively curating our own news from the plethora of media outlets, we have found ways to tune out dissent. We have built our own echo chambers that tell us what the “real facts” are and suggest how we should feel about them. The longer we remain in these echo chambers, the crazier the other side seems. We ponder how a human being in 2017 could even think the way they do. They must be corrupt. They must care more about campaign donors than the American public. Maybe they’re just racists or snowflakes. We stop looking at them as people who disagree with us, and we start viewing them as enemies.
One final question: How many politicians from the other party do you respect? I’m guessing that you just made a very short list. If we gain respect for the people we disagree with, then we can return to making successful compromises. If we don't, then we'll continue down this path. If we're going to change course, we need to change ourselves. Look at every political disagreement as an opportunity to learn more perspectives. We need to work together. It’s not an option. If we want what’s best for our country, then we need to break the echo chamber and reconnect with our shared humanity.
Whether or not you agree with the official party’s decisions, the line in the sand has been drawn. On a wide range of topics, Republicans tend to line up on one side while Democrats line up on the other. We tend to agree with the same people on diverse issues, such as abortion, foreign policy, welfare programs, criminal justice, and civil rights. Many of these issues have nothing to do with each other, but our teammates are almost always the same. More importantly, our opponents are almost always the same, too. But why? Isn’t it weird that a majority of Democrats agree on fiscal and foreign policy? Isn’t it strange that a majority of Republicans also agree on fiscal and foreign policy?
A few reasons can explain this strange phenomenon. The most sensible is the underlying philosophies, but that doesn’t explain everything. If Democrats champion big government, then shouldn’t they want a big military? Classic Republicans try to limit government in many areas, but they want to continue to grow the military. Republicans want to legislate morality in some ways (marriage, drug use) while Democrats want to legislate morality in other ways (equality, hate speech). Both parties have these deep contradictions, but it hasn’t shaken party lines. If underlying philosophies cannot explain this partisan split, what can?
The biggest factor is who we listen to and who we brush aside. We tend to read/watch publications that we agree with and avoid the ones that we don’t agree with. Digital curation has only increased this by figuring out exactly what we like. Companies like Google and Facebook have used deep analytics to know exactly what content to deliver us. They know which friends should go to the top of our newsfeed, what advertising to show us, and what news outlets we believe. To paint with the broadest of brushes, liberals & conservatives aren’t even reading the same news, so we can’t agree on even the most basic facts.
And thus, we have found our problem. By selectively curating our own news from the plethora of media outlets, we have found ways to tune out dissent. We have built our own echo chambers that tell us what the “real facts” are and suggest how we should feel about them. The longer we remain in these echo chambers, the crazier the other side seems. We ponder how a human being in 2017 could even think the way they do. They must be corrupt. They must care more about campaign donors than the American public. Maybe they’re just racists or snowflakes. We stop looking at them as people who disagree with us, and we start viewing them as enemies.
One final question: How many politicians from the other party do you respect? I’m guessing that you just made a very short list. If we gain respect for the people we disagree with, then we can return to making successful compromises. If we don't, then we'll continue down this path. If we're going to change course, we need to change ourselves. Look at every political disagreement as an opportunity to learn more perspectives. We need to work together. It’s not an option. If we want what’s best for our country, then we need to break the echo chamber and reconnect with our shared humanity.
