“Two plus Two is Five, and I don’t see how you can’t see that!”

Often, when I engage in political dialogue with people who believe what I wholeheartedly reject, they look at me like the guy in the photo to the left.    It is as if I am proclaiming that 2+2 is 5 and they don’t know what to say!  To be fair, it goes both ways.  Their arguments sometimes make as much logical sense to me!

Go online to discuss things and the discourse degenerates pretty quickly!  Read through the comment section of any hot topic of the day, and you will find people screaming at each other that 2+2 is 5 and 4+4 is 8.  In other words, the people who believe like we do get the answer right and those who hold an opposing view are flat out morons!

Just consider the Fiscal Cliff and/or The Gun Control debate.  We have become so polarized.  Both sides proclaim their view as the correct view,  at the top of their lungs, never pausing to consider there might be some truth to the opposing view.  Worse, the other side is often demonized for being out of touch or worse.

How can 53% of the country passionately believe their vision for our country is THE only way forward, and the other 47% just as passionately believe in their vision?

It doesn’t help matters that most of us get information from our own “trusted” sources. Conservatives get their information from more conservative leaning places.  Liberals get theirs from more liberal outlets.  A conservative person, who watches Fox News, reads Drudge and listens to Talk Radio every day, is going to have a different view of things than the liberal person who watches CNN or MSNBC and reads the NY Times.  Keep in mind that the conservative holds CNN, MSNBC and the NY Times in utter contempt and EXTREMELY biased.  The liberal feels the same way about FOX News and most “conservative” news outlets.  The problem with this, is that most people believe what they are told/sold.

Actually, I think the reason for our polarization is quite simple.  It is not that half of the country is full of obtuse, uneducated fools.  It is that there IS truth in both sides of almost every argument.  We just focus on the aspects our side finds most important and dismiss the others.  In effect, we are not listening to each other.  We are just shouting each other down.  I, for one, am utterly sick of it!

How do we change things on a personal level?  For starters, I suggest we start preferring clarity to agreement.  In other words, we should seek to understand why our conservative or liberal counterpart  believes the way they do.  Don’t reject their views without even considering them.

I also think we should start reading, watching and listening to the “biased” news of the other side! (Oh the scandal of it all!)  Watch CNN or Fox News, listen to Rush Limbaugh, Dennis Prager, Michael Medved, Alan Colmes or Thom Hartmann and read the NY Times or Drudge.  With an OPEN MIND!

Finally, can we agree to be gracious with those whom we disagree?  Let’s stop yelling at each other and demonizing those who hold different views.  If we could just do THAT, maybe things would change.  I am hopeful, but I am not holding my breath.