There was one time I made a thread as a progressive that basically an AMA about my views and perspectives, and it received very little response or interest. After I commented on this, I remember hearing a former poster said the following, "There is a subversion of conservatives and fundamentalists who have no concept whatsoever for "just discussing things". For those people, in religious communication one is a preacher and the other one is a listener. So, it's logical to try to be the preacher and not let the heretics preach to you. Listening to someone voluntarily means giving them the position of a preacher, which is obviously not desirable if the person is a heretic." I don't think he realizes just how correct he actually, it's not just on the right side of things, but also the left as well. In fact, I think today it could be worded "There is a subversion of people who have no concept whatsoever for "just discussing things". For those people, in religious and political communication, one is a teacher and the other is the student. So, it's logical to try to be the teacher and not let the students teach you. Listening to someone voluntarily means giving them the position of a teacher, which is obviously not desirable if the person is doesn't know what they're talking about."
Nobody believes in bi-partisanship anymore, it's become more about winning and taking every chance you can to get a shot in at your opponent than actually exchanging ideas and hearing different viewpoints to work together towards a common goal. That's really a tangible sign of a larger problem: people have bought into the skewed narrative that differences in politics is a valid reason for discord and distrust. In my personal opinion, that's largely to blame on the media, but that's a whole other topic. I suspect as I'm writing this, many people will read the first few sentences, and think I'm just attacking conservatives. They are not the problem, liberals are not the problem, the problem is that viewpoint of the other side of the political spectrum. That's the reason why nothing can get done in this country, it's become "Democrats versus Republicans" instead of "Democrats and Republicans". I, for one, am done with this hyper-partisanship.
One of the other consequences of this hyper-partisanship is that the two sides are becoming more and more polarized, where not only is nobody willing to reach across the other side, but anyone who does is labeled a "RINO" or a "DINO", and seen as equal to that of a traitor instead of someone who can help us create bi-partisanship and the ability to work together. The idea that one can be traitorous to a political party because they have a different point of view or agree with the other side on anything, is nothing short of undemocratic. We've forgotten that democracy requires cooperation and compromise.
Due to this mistrust, discord, and hyper-partisanship, we've lost the ability to discuss or effectively debate issues. It's become all about proving the other side wrong. The last debates I've been in are less of an exchange of ideas and views, but me just trying to establish the basis of my argument so the other person can understand it or clarifying misunderstandings about my position. Both of which are seen as this offensive attack or rebuttal, when in reality, it's just an explanation or clarification. There is another user who's signature says "Apparently the new way to argue with me is to say something I didn't say, and start from there." I've seen myself do that and seen it done to me too much to the point where I've pretty much just gotten frustrated and lost interest. Regardless, How can we really effectively debate when we don't even understand the other person's position or even willing to listen to them explain it without immediately going on the defensive? You can't, and until that start occurring again, it will continue to be people shouting back and forth at one another.
Before America can actually become great again, we have to start listening to each other and trusting each other. We have to stop blaming the other side for creating this mess we've made. We have to stop generalizing and seeing everyone who isn't "us" as the opponent. Democracy is not "If you aren't for us, you're against us." Ultimately, we all want the same thing, we want this country to be a better place to live for everyone. If you want to look for the guilty in what created this political mess we've made, you only need to look into a mirror.
Nobody believes in bi-partisanship anymore, it's become more about winning and taking every chance you can to get a shot in at your opponent than actually exchanging ideas and hearing different viewpoints to work together towards a common goal. That's really a tangible sign of a larger problem: people have bought into the skewed narrative that differences in politics is a valid reason for discord and distrust. In my personal opinion, that's largely to blame on the media, but that's a whole other topic. I suspect as I'm writing this, many people will read the first few sentences, and think I'm just attacking conservatives. They are not the problem, liberals are not the problem, the problem is that viewpoint of the other side of the political spectrum. That's the reason why nothing can get done in this country, it's become "Democrats versus Republicans" instead of "Democrats and Republicans". I, for one, am done with this hyper-partisanship.
One of the other consequences of this hyper-partisanship is that the two sides are becoming more and more polarized, where not only is nobody willing to reach across the other side, but anyone who does is labeled a "RINO" or a "DINO", and seen as equal to that of a traitor instead of someone who can help us create bi-partisanship and the ability to work together. The idea that one can be traitorous to a political party because they have a different point of view or agree with the other side on anything, is nothing short of undemocratic. We've forgotten that democracy requires cooperation and compromise.
Due to this mistrust, discord, and hyper-partisanship, we've lost the ability to discuss or effectively debate issues. It's become all about proving the other side wrong. The last debates I've been in are less of an exchange of ideas and views, but me just trying to establish the basis of my argument so the other person can understand it or clarifying misunderstandings about my position. Both of which are seen as this offensive attack or rebuttal, when in reality, it's just an explanation or clarification. There is another user who's signature says "Apparently the new way to argue with me is to say something I didn't say, and start from there." I've seen myself do that and seen it done to me too much to the point where I've pretty much just gotten frustrated and lost interest. Regardless, How can we really effectively debate when we don't even understand the other person's position or even willing to listen to them explain it without immediately going on the defensive? You can't, and until that start occurring again, it will continue to be people shouting back and forth at one another.
Before America can actually become great again, we have to start listening to each other and trusting each other. We have to stop blaming the other side for creating this mess we've made. We have to stop generalizing and seeing everyone who isn't "us" as the opponent. Democracy is not "If you aren't for us, you're against us." Ultimately, we all want the same thing, we want this country to be a better place to live for everyone. If you want to look for the guilty in what created this political mess we've made, you only need to look into a mirror.
