The Polarization of American Politics and Thought

I have long been of the opinion that we, as US Citizens, have more in common than we think, no matter our political affiliations. But how many of us feel trapped by the political system that supposedly represents us? I think we see some of that in the recent Iowa caucuses. What real choices do you have?

We have candidates that hold some of our issues dear, and we have to decide whether we can overlook other aspects of their character and vote for them. How else do these fringe candidates manage to get elected at all? When you are choosing to support someone because of a core issue what other issues might they have that you can barely stomach, yet you are forced to either look past those, throw away your vote to an impossible candidate as a protest or not vote at all.
How do you figure out where the line is drawn and why must there be a total polarizing effect that paralyzes the government because one side or another is holding out because of mostly unrelated issues, or worse yet, because their holdout endears them to a total minority group of constituents?

You who are on the so called “right to life” side of abortion, do you honestly think that anyone wants abortions? No one is “pro abortion.” But for some reason the same party that wants to make abortion illegal also wants to limit access to birth control, and also wants to reduce or eliminate any health care assistance to children in needy situations. I’ve heard it said that Republicans only care about life until the head crowns and then you are on your own.

But where do we stand on common issues and how do people make choices to support a candidate who only hits on a couple of our core values or thoughts? I am pro-gun and pro-choice. I believe that our personal lives aren’t any of the government’s business, so they should stay out of our bedrooms. Yet somehow that bedroom is the government’s business if a couple is gay or lesbian? How can people reconcile those two opposing points of view?

I want to keep my social security intact. Figure out how to make it work. The amount the average person pays in never makes it back to that person. The problem, as I see it anyway, is that the money paid in is not sequestered but mixed into the government pot and that is where trouble starts. Yet if we would end social security (which somehow is the only form of socialism that people can accept, by pretending it’s not), if we would end it, people would end up elderly broke and destitute. The multi-generational household is, for the most part, gone, whether you view that as good or bad, and we, as a society, have a responsibility to care for the elderly.

But commonality instead of polarization is the theme of this little essay. We all believe we should care for our elders I think. We all feel that an educated nation is the path to prosperity. In some fashion we all believe in the “golden rule” treat others as you would like to be treated, yet that seems to be taken only hypothetically.
We are “family centric” as a nation, although we choose to define family in many different ways. We love the people we love and don’t feel it is right for other people to judge our beliefs. We want to do more to help people, giving them a hand up, and feeling they should be working to improve their lives and pay it forward. We want the planet to be as clean and green as it was when we were young (or better) and we want businesses to be responsible for their actions.

Businesses don’t want to be regulated, but if they don’t act responsibly do they police themselves or look the other way? Some government regulation is good to protect us all. We think OSHA and safety regulations are an encumbrance and add to the cost of business, but most regulations came into being because of serious injuries and accidents in the past.

Over-zealousness in government needs to be eliminated and budgets and spending needs to be looked at dollar for dollar. A balanced budget in any government can be had if all agencies and spending were done by percentages rather than by dollars. (With a percentage thrown in to pay off debt) My household budget is done this way, why can’t the government live within its means?

This has been a rambling post, but the point is that we all should be united in our commonalities and be civil in the debate on the rest. Demonizing “the other” doesn’t gain ground in the long run. Spreading lies and gossip on the internet has become rampant. Spread truth, researched verifiable truth, and if you don’t like what you find to be true maybe look inward and think about why.

No one fits perfectly into the Republican, Democrat, Libertarian or any other party. But we all fit into the system somehow.

Tagged as: iowa caucus, polarization of politics, right to life