Too many of us have believed a big, fat, lie, and it must be corrected – or else our children, if not we ourselves, will live to see the death of the great American Experiment. This is the lie: The people that disagree with “us” are dangerous. They are idiots, and, they are the enemy of our Nation. Allow me to explain both the lie, and the truth.
There are brilliant people on both sides of the aisle. Intelligent minds can disagree. So, how did we come to believe the lie, who sold it to us, and how do we change it?
So, how did we come to believe the lie?
Believing the lie is relatively easy to explain. After all, people love a good game of “us vs. them.” From your favorite sports rivalry (Yankees vs. The Sox), to gender wars (anything you can do, I can do better!), to racism (see: “hands up, don’t shoot!” See also: “Jim Crowe,” “Japanese Internment camps,” and “Irish slaves.” For an international flair, see: [pick the name of any nation ever] war atrocities… starting to get the picture?) and the compulsive need to identify eye shapes, or, the way a particular ethinicity smells (when they are wet, or don’t wear deodorant, or because they eat an abundance of a particular spice). Our natural instinct is to pick teams and then find a million reasons to die for ours (literally – like in a war, or metaphorically – like being a Philadelphia Flyers fan; a perennial death to self), and at least as many reasons to justify the assassination of the the “them” (literally – drone attacks, or metaphorically – as in, who ever met a Boston sports fan that they didn’t want to run over with their metaphorical SUV?) In ‘Murica, we alternate between the metaphorical, jocular, political-attacks during the best of times, and literal assassinations in the worst of times. We have allowed those who are greedy for power to manipulate us, from time to time, and drag us into the gutter of the more literal divisions, and the more literal assassinations. Make no mistake about it, if the “swamp” is in Washington, D.C., its origins are, nevertheless, in the human mind – and the latter is the one in the most dire need of draining. We are once again at a crossroads in the U.S., and in all of Western Civilization.
Who sold it to us?
This goes back to at least the presidency of Bill Clinton, although, perhaps back to Ronald Reagan’s. The efforts of Congress, during both presidencies, to achieve their political goals through attacks on the character of their opponents, as opposed to the ideas of their opponents, massively contributed to the beginning of the sociopolitical avalanche. Universities accelerated it (See: “The Coddling Of The American Mind,” by Haidt and Lukinanoff). Donald Trump represents a reinforcement of the cultural battle lines and the backlash to the P.C. movement that was grown in the Universities and fostered by the coastal elites. The clash of social revolutionaries, and populist sentiments, have been co-opted by some of the worst examples of humanity – those who feel a compulsion to seek power over their fellow citizens. Few who desire power are worthy of, or fit to possess, the positions they seek. Unfortunately, too many who desire power are capable of figuring out how to obtain it: division through fear. You will find this behind nearly every war that has ever been waged – the use of fear to gain power and manipulate the masses. The political left and right have spent the past 20+ years trying to convince us that the other side is the enemy. Thanks to the advent of social media, we can now find a meme supporting any baseless pre-existing idea that we have. We were sold these ideas by people seeking television and radio ratings, and people seeking political power… and a few that were well intentioned, but, we all know what road our “good intentions” pave – and we were, collectively, all too willing to buy.
How do we change it?
If we don’t change the tone, end the demonizing and dehumanizing of those with whom we disagree, and genuinely wake up, we are destined to join the dust bin of history’s once powerful nations, whose collapse necessitated the re-creation of classroom maps and globes. There are no simple answers to the problems with which humanity is confronted – and there never have been. While I have enough hubris to think I can contribute some solutions, I’m humble enough to admit that my ideas do not represent the only answers. Nevertheless, if we aren’t searching for solutions, what’s the point? In light of this thought, I offer the following…
The first step to getting out of this epic mess in which we find ourselves is accepting the complexities of the mess, itself. There are a lot of people offering simple solutions to complex problems. We like simple solutions because they usually give us an excuse to actively avoid thinking, and give us someone to blame. Unfortunately, they’re typically about as useful as used chewing gum, and are almost always inadequate.
Next, figure out who has been labeled “Them” – that’s who is to blame for our problems! Everything would be amazing without THEM. Except that it wouldn’t be. “They” aren’t the problem. The collective “we” are the problem. If that thought makes you feel slightly indignant, then take a chill pill, and check yourself before you wreck yourself. A world which includes “me” can’t ever be perfect, or free from error or flaw. If you can’t relate with the preceding sentence, then, I think you need something stronger than a chill pill. With that in mind, it might be easier to imagine that some ideas that you think are brilliant are actually bound to be terrible. We need each other. We need a dose of humility. We need to remember that disagreeing doesn’t need to make us enemies. Have a conversation with someone that you disagree with – and not so that you can convince them to believe what you believe, so that they can stop being wrong. Instead, try to understand where they are coming from and who they are. The shouting voices that have been the source of all of your information on “who these other people are,” lack something in the way of objectivity, and something more, in the way of credibility, when they speak about the motivations and beliefs of the “they.” The enemy of our democracy – the greatest danger to our Republic, is mutual, unchecked, self-assuredness.
This is not to say that all ideas are equal. This is not an argument in favor of relativism. We can objectively assess arguments, but, unless that assessment starts in a place of intellectual humility, we will continue to only seek ideas that support our already self-assured, pre-existing beliefs, while savagely dissecting any contradictory information with a degree of thoroughness never experienced by those pieces that fit our worldview.
One last thought: I said that the lie was, “the people on the other side are … idiots.” On the whole, this is true, at least, in part because blanket statements are myopic and stupid; they represent some of the worst in us. Of course, some of the people on the other side are idiots – some of the people on whichever side we stand are idiots. We, too, are individually, sometimes the idiot. So, accept the fact that, sometimes, you are the idiot and sometimes I am the idiot – it is a role that we all take turns playing. Then, make the decision not to paint an entire group with such broad brush strokes. Work hard to figure out when you’re the idiot, so that you can be less of an idiot, and try to have a little bit of grace on the other idiots. This whole “humaning” thing is not easy and we are all fumbling along.
thereluctantcommentator 