Non-Partisanism

Background: I just finished reading Orson Scott Card's Empire, and it reinforced some thoughts that I've had for a while.

Particularly, thoughts about the fact that the great political divide we call "the party line" causes a lot of trouble. In the words of Card's afterword, "We are fully polarized -- if you accept one idea that sounds like it belongs to either the blue or the red, you are assumed -- nay, required -- to espouse the entire rest of the package, even though there is no reason" that this must be true.

The reality of politics today far too often makes things about Republicans and Democrats. "The liberal media this," "the conservative wackjobs that." We hear it all the time. Instead of acknowledging the common ground (if we even have any left beyond our humanity and citizenship due to the extreme polarization of today, though that should still be amply sufficient common ground) with respect and understanding, working together for good of the American people, we make power plays, work on pet projects, and contend with emotional appeals for votes when solid reason is needed to diagnose problems and properly solve them.

The problem is that that requires setting aside pride, personal gains, and a whole lot of cashflow for a lot of people. If inter-partisan wars were to cease, the hype machines would fall. That would hurt a lot of pocketbooks: the media, the interest groups, and, of course, the politicians.

Ironic, I suppose, that the continuation of this ongoing war comes at the cost of the Everyman; the individuals and communities the participants involved in the warring all claim to be looking out for.

Am I going somewhere with this, or is it just one more of my ramblings? Perhaps a little of both, but I do have a challenge for you.

On second thought, make that two challenges.

The first is that you read Card's afterword from Empire with an open mind. Many of the thoughts that have been rolling around in my mind are stated there, but he isn't fighting for concision in the way that I am here.

The second challenge is that you join me in setting aside party predispositions. Be you conservative or liberal, Democrat or Republican, it's time to set down alignment and party pride. I sincerely hope that you've never been of the mentality that says "I always support the Democrat/Republican candidate," believing that your party of choice is always right (if you're an optimist, anyway; or that it will do less harm if you're a pessimist). I would hope that that's something you would all avoid without my challenge.

However, the snare that is much easier to get caught in is one of thinking that you (or your party) is right, so everyone else must necessarily be wrong. Best case scenario, that's arrogant as all get out. Likely scenario, you're acting in ignorance. Worst case scenario, you're throwing out the valid points made by "the other guy," hurting your ability to actually pursue the best possible solution to any given issue.

We walk an ugly path so long as we support the inter-partisan wars.* We don't need to throw out partisan ties entirely, but partisan zealotry must be done away with. In its place, we need to pursue civilized discussions across party lines, doing our best to objectively weigh the merits and shortcomings of ideas presented by both sides (being especially alert to our natural predispositions), for the sake of making our nation the best possible nation for her people. All the while, we must maintain respect and understanding for others, along with an open mind to the ideas and reasons they have, even if we do not share their conclusions. If we cannot do this, then we are unworthy of respect, and we perpetuate the problem.

It's true that it will take more than just a few common citizens to change the way things are, but if we don't start the change, how can we expect it to come? America is fueled by dreams and the initiative to bring them about. Let's bring the dream of a government that serves the people efficiently by focusing on the benefit of the people first, leaving the benefit of the politicians and parties for last, back from the threat of becoming little more than a fantasy of the past.

-Kenny Yeager


*Make no mistake. Political apathy, in refusing to fight an evil, helps that evil continue. In the words of the great philosopher Geddy Lee, "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."