I'm growing increasingly frustrated by the level of intolerance displayed by so many commentators on both the Left and the Right of American politics. It's long past time we dumped the stereotypes that the 'political class' have foisted on us (through their tame news media) for so long, and realized that only if we work together can we accomplish anything meaningful in this country. One side certainly can't do it on its own, not with a country so evenly divided that one side can't possibly make its agenda stick over the objections of the other (or, at least, not for long).
I'd like to encourage my readers to deliberately, purposefully look for ideas, expressions and perspectives from those of different political persuasions with which you might be able to agree, to a greater or lesser extent. I assure you, it's not hard to find them! Let me give you two examples I found today.
- A 2010 article in The Nation, self-described as 'the flagship of the Left', describes Camden, NJ as a 'City Of Ruins'. It covers the disintegration of the city's community life and infrastructure. It's dark, bleak and foreboding . . . but there's nothing in its description with which I can argue. It states the facts as they are. I might disagree with its authors about how best to tackle the problems they describe, but I'd be happy to work with them on finding a mutually acceptable solution. Anyone who can get that deeply under the skin of an entire community, and describe it so accurately, deserves a hearing.
- Left-wing blogger Earthbound Misfit put up two articles today with which I can largely agree, despite our differences in political perspective. The first is 'One Way to Start the Restoration of the Greatness of America', where she argues that 'professional managers' are at the root of much of the decline in American commerce, industry and infrastructure. The second is 'Don't Let The MBAs Do This', where she argues against allowing professional managers to 'take a push to buy American-made products and turn it into a cover for turning out shoddy goods'. I can't argue with many (most?) of her arguments and conclusions. I think that if she and I were to put our heads together to find solutions to the problems confronting US commerce and industry, we'd find a fair amount of common ground.
Those are two examples that I came across within an hour of each other. If I can find them so easily, think how many points of contact and potential agreement we could all find across political boundaries or perspectives, if we only put our minds to it and worked together!
We really need to do this. If we don't, the 'political class' will continue to 'divide and rule' us all. Only by working together wherever possible can we find mutually acceptable solutions to the crisis presently confronting us.
Peter
P.S.: For interesting perspectives on the 'political class', see these four articles. All make worthwhile reading. They're from both the Left and the Right of the political spectrum, to give as balanced a perspective as I can find at short notice. Dare I hope that partisans from both sides of the spectrum might find the views of the other side curiously close to their own, concerning their common 'enemy'?
5 comments:
It just is too hard to deal with anyone who is just waiting for you to get a half step ahead to stick in the knife.
Geoff
Who is experienced in these matters.
The issue is, generally, that the left leaning folks are unwilling to find a common ground or to compromise to address the problems. Additionally, the left leaners are generally wanting to have someone else do it, with someone elses money, generally with a larger government or at least one with a larger budget.
Any other type of solution is generally rejected.
THis is not true in all cases, but does hold true generally.
And they are generally unwilling to consider any other form of solution.
Unfortunately, gentlemen, those on the Left make the same sort of complaint about those on the Right. It's a two-way street . . . and both sides are guilty of pretty much the same sins when it comes to compromise, or the lack thereof. Sure, I can point to many examples where I regard those on the Left as completely unreasonable in their demands; but they can do the same as far as I'm concerned.
Unless we learn to work together in areas where we can find common ground - and I accept that doesn't include every area, by any means - we're doomed to do nothing but fight each other all day, every day. If we're doing that, we can't get much else done, can we? That's called 'gridlock'. It has its uses in Washington as presently constituted, but only in the negative. It's long gone time we tried to replace that negative with something positive.
Let me put it another way. I've written extensively about the economic storm about to break over our heads. Do you really think this nation can survive it without mutual assistance and co-operation from all of us who care? I doubt it.
I will not work with leftists, socialists, or liberal Democrats on anything that matters.
I have done so in the past and betrayals by the leftists always resulted.
Conservatives I know say what they mean and do what they say.
Liberals lie, obfuscate, cheat, make excuses for unconstitutional acts by government officials, and have cost me money, personally, and through increased taxes.
Enough of that.
I'll throw a handful of caltrops onto the track: as a libertarian, I don't really care whether the boot on my neck is a left or a right boot. I have both connections and problems with leftists and conservatives, although in very different areas. Many problems can be alleviated, to one extent or another, by eliminating government involvement in that area. (IMHO) To give two examples (one for each "side"): Get the government out of the economy except to police theft, fraud, vandalism, etc. Get the government out of every other country but the USA, and stop funding other countries' rulers with our tax dollars. Those two items would make a great start.
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