With election day coming up, it seemed only appropriate to write a piece in the spirit of politics. Now before I completely lose you (I too am sick of the politically saturated Facebook feeds and newsreels), this is less of an opinion piece about either candidate and more a call to political nerds (much like myself) on either side to be patient with one another. It seems everyone not only has an opinion about whom they vote for, but also whom others are voting for. This is a side of politics I’ve personally never understood, as institutions such as government are far too complex (and, frankly, ambiguous) for most people to ever completely understand. Not only that, but there are great minds affiliated with most major parties. It’s truly a shame that we are so quick to assume that political opinions different from our own are somehow less than, when in reality, people’s political beliefs are simply a reflection of their life experiences. This type of behavior is especially prevalent this election cycle, understandably so considering the provocative major party candidates. However, I think that by writing the other parties off as “stupid” or “ignorant”, we are doing ourselves a great disservice. If we turn up our noses at the so-called “basket of deplorables” for having a difference in opinion, we are essentially ignoring the needs of half of the country. By turning our brains off to those who challenge our beliefs, we are robbing ourselves the chance to come up with creative solutions that cater to the needs of the whole country (rather than just part of the country). When we peer across the partisan lines and call each other “racist”, “ignorant”, or “dumb”, we are invalidating the other’s concerns, and as soon as you do this, you lose any and all opportunity to work together.
I think it is easy to blame it on partisanship, but it seems to me that the real issue here lies in maturity (or lack thereof). Because realistically, it is probably a good thing to have a broad spectrum of opinions when it comes to things like running a country. If everyone always agreed on everything, there would be no growth and no improvement. So in this way, the party system should be an incredibly lucrative thing. The problem seems to arise when we lack the humility to be able to truly listen to the opinions of the other side. It is a difficult thing to do (especially at a time like this in politics when so few people are listening with open minds), but if anything that makes it seem all the more necessary.
There is a really thought provoking interview done by The Ezra Klein Show on this topic with sociologist Arlie Hochschild. In this interview, she describes her experience journeying from her very liberal hometown of Berkeley to the deeply conservative Louisiana Bayou. Surrounded by people with fundamentally different ideas about the direction in which the country needs to go, she never expected to find any common ground. Of course, upon arrival she quickly discovered just how easy it was to get along with, or rather enjoy the various strangers whom she encountered. It even opened her eyes to an entire host of issues faced by people in this demographic that she would’ve been completely unaware of otherwise. It seems that as soon as we humanize the other side and truly open ourselves up to what they have to say, we realize that politics are far more grey than we’d like to think. I think that if a lot of us opened our eyes and put down our egos, we’d quickly learn that a vote for Trump is not necessarily a vote for racism and sexism; and on a similar note, a vote for Clinton is not a vote for crony capitalism and anti-white sentiment. Whether we like it or not, there are valid arguments for either vote and the sooner we realize this, the better off we are.
Now on a lighter note, please enjoy the following politically fueled and totally biased memes!
Image from: http://www.rantpolitical.com/2015/12/18/funniest-political-memes-of-2015/
Funny? Sure! Completely oversimplifying a complex controversey? Absolutely! (isn’t politics so fun?!) Image from: http://www.attn.com/stories/6286/viral-donald-trump-meme-kkk-hypocrisy
Funny? Sure! Completely oversimplifying a complex controversey? Absolutely! (I’m noticing a pattern here…)
Image from: http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1093289-donald-trump
Ok I’m sorry, this is just funny.
That being said, happy almost election day everybody and don’t forget to, in the words of former ~salty~ GOP candidate Ted Cruz, “vote your conscious”!