The Current State of Political Discourse

Hi all, this is the obligatory first post in which you get to know a little bit about me. To start, I am married and a father of three, and I have BA in Political Science and Economics. As well, I have taken various graduate level courses in economics and international relations. I want to use this first post to talk about the state of political discourse in the country as I see it. Currently, the country seems to be heading down a path of extremism seemingly caused by Newton’s 3^rd law of motion. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

You just have to turn on the TV to see the words Nazi, communist, and anti-American being applied to some political opponent. Check out the message boards on the news sites, they are filled with vitriol and hate. While there is a need for discourse in a democracy, and these outbursts are protected by the 1^st amendment of the constitution, there must be civility. Individuals should be able to support a cause like health care without being labeled an anti-American, communist or believe in the 2^nd amendment without being labeled a Nazi. By using such harsh and strong language, people are intimidated into not participating in our democracy. In essence by using such language we are only hurting our country and at the same time condoning politicians who want to be the next Joe Wilson or Alan Grayson. This is something that must stop.

I have been told that it is the extreme left and right that allow for change, and that moderates like myself accomplish very little. The fact is, moderates make up the majority of citizens; I know plenty of people who consider themselves socially liberal and economically conservative or vice versa. Moderates tend to be delegated to a diplomatic role in the chambers of our representatives trying to bring together the opposing sides, while extremists write the bills, would it not be better for the bills to be written by the moderates to start with, one would think this could save a lot of time. The sad fact is that Americans need drama in their lives; no one wants to hear a sane and rational point of view that gives credence to the other side. They want to see why the opposing side is wrong; they need reassurance that they are right.

Don’t believe me, look at the cable news landscape. CNN is losing badly while the MSNBC and FOX are growing in viewership. This divide has lead us to treat politics as a war, one which we must support our side 100% and 100% oppose the other side. Anything less is traitorous. We disallow room for moderation based on the belief that one party or the other has all the answers for every question and that the other party is in a conspiratorial plot to destroy America.

This extremism invariably leads to a cyclical justification of extremism. Reference back to Newton’s 3^rd law again, each side claiming their inappropriate behavior is justified by the other side’s same behavior. Remember that in the land of an eye for an eye, everyone is blind. It is time to step back and have a real conversation without all the hate vitriol and talking points. It is time for the people to discover what they believe, and not what some charismatic politician tells us to believe. I hope that this blog becomes a place for all to have real conversations of meaning and if that is not the case, it will at least be interesting.