Recently, I came across the following quote by legendary Hedge Fund Manager and Investor, Ray Dalio: “We are in a time when most people (A) pick a side and fight for it, or (B) hide from the fight, and (C) few people engage in thoughtful disagreements and have respect for rules and judges.”
This country has been on a steady downward slide toward tribalism, an unforgiving split that likely has its roots in the Impeachment of President Clinton in 1998, followed by the Presidential Election of 2000 which led to the angst of the Supreme Court Decision of Bush v. Gore. Those moments produced divisions of Red versus Blue that have only widened and solidified in the subsequent decades. Any suggested policy from one group has almost instinctively been rejected by the other group as being wrong– regardless of the merits.
Objectivity and careful scrutiny have gone away in favor of thoughtlessly saying my side is correct so yours must be false. This has devolved into painting the other side as the polar opposite; hence, if we’re the good guys, you must be evil. Republicans who seek to work with Democrats are dismissed as RINOs and Democrats who seek to work with Republicans are viewed as outcasts who cannot pass ideological purity tests.
I am not a moral relativist, but I do think all issues should be viewed objectively. However, both the Right and the Left have sworn allegiance to team belief over truth in their rhetoric, which has resulted in the vilification of contrary opinions. Some of this vilification has been downright ugly—many people are afraid to state what they truly feel for fear of being labeled racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, anti-science, misogynist, fascist, etc. This is a cop out—a cheap, low blow as it stifles true debate, whose goal should be the pursuit of truth, not scoring a win.
Many of us fail to ever challenge the things we hear on the news or in what we consume on social media. As a prime example, consider the constant talk about protecting our Democracy.
I’d like to point out that we don’t live in a Democracy, we live in a Constitutional Republic which is quite different (Civics knowledge is important). No one has ever provided an ounce of proof that “our democracy is being threatened” or that “you can kiss elections goodbye” if a certain person becomes President.
An equal argument can be made that our democracy is constantly being threatened by the increasing intrusion of Federal, State, and Local regulatory burden on every person in America. Each one of these is a further erosion of our liberties—the very liberties that our Republic was founded upon.
What’s more, we continue to cede power to the worst among us—elections over the past several generations have really been a choice of the lesser of two evils. No matter which way you choose, you’re still voting for evil, and that’s who runs your government.
Don’t kid yourselves, politicians do not have your interests in mind; all they care about is getting rich and maintaining power (or increasing it). They all went to the same schools and belong to the same organizations. To distill this—Right Wing, Left Wing…Same Bird.
