In the wake of the ridiculousness that has been going on recently, one thing stands out to me most sharply:
The “us vs them” mentality has become pervasive in our society – our social media, our mainstream media, and thus our zeitgeist. Across the spectrum, this “if you’re not with us, you’re against us” paradigm has obfuscated rational people’s ability to think objectively.
We need to get away from us vs. them, left vs. right, democrat vs. republican. We need more focus on the fact that we’re on this sinking ship together, and we cannot save it without each others’ help. If we don’t, we’re all going to go down with it or will be jumping off like rats.
As much as each side would like to think that the destruction of the “other side” would solve all the problems, this is not the case. As much as each side would like to think “if only they would change their minds and believe what I believe” things would get better. This is also not the case.
What happened to the time when people with differing views could coexist and work together towards a common goal? Contrary to what the mainstream media outlets would have you believe, the majority of people are not as radicalized and polarized as they are portrayed. The loudest voices are heard but they are not necessarily correct. It is the loudest voices we hear and see on social media, those right-wing nutjobs or left-wing nutjobs who post their extreme and close-minded views do not represent the majority of the population – and we need to stop letting them. I speak for myself as well in this; I consider myself a conservative (note small-c) with libertarian leanings, and I find myself appalled and shamed by the behavior of people labeled as “Conservatives.” I can’t even call myself a Republican anymore because that term has – wrongly – become synonymous with racists, white supremacists, and other detriments to society.
Most rational, level-headed people do not condone rioting or destruction of property. In a conversation, I think we would find that many of us can agree on that point. I think we can also mostly agree that there is a deep-rooted problem in some police forces that should be addressed, but understand that not “all cops are bad” and many of them are valuable members of their respective communities.
Most of these same people can agree that those who view Trump as somehow “sent by God” or some sort of savior are a bit mad – and also probably don’t represent the entire right half of the political spectrum, just as Biden does not represent the entirety of the left half.
The bottom line is, whether you agree with my examples or not, that we need to work on coming together and remembering, nay – emphasizing – our commonalities instead of letting our differences drive us further and further apart.
Divided, we fall. United, we stand. Remember that.
Politics to Potting Mix 