My Views on Political Polarization
One major factor which I think contributes to partisan animosity among people is the fear from individuals that extremists on the opposite ends of the political spectrum will gain a majority control of our government, and consequently, our nation.
For example, not many liberals want the Far Right to be in power. Likewise, not many conservatives want the Far Left to be in power. And so, unfortunately, people are often reduced to siding with a "lesser evil" because the "greater evil" frightens them so much.
Myself, I’ve always been very moderate and independent from such ties of loyalty. I believe it is necessary to combat extremism from both ends of the political spectrum, so that one group does not attain the bulk of national power (and thus the bulk of national wealth and liberty).
The irony I’ve noticed in politics is that both liberals and conservatives bellyache about the other party trying to control people’s lives - - when in reality, BOTH of the major political persuasions want to control Americans’ lives, just in different ways.
Liberals (sometimes called "Democrats") tend to want to control people in the areas of: gun control (some going so far as to advocate national firearm confiscation), political correctness (enforcement of it in our daily lives and in our schools), prison reform (abolishing capital punishment without first finding a reasonable alternative), affirmative action (contemporary racism/sexism against whites and/or males to "make up for" historical injustices), and national defense (reducing America’s military strength/funding, leaving our nation vulnerable to adversity and terrorism from abroad).
Conservatives (sometimes called "Republicans") tend to want to control people in the areas of: religion (failure to recognize the Separation of Church and State, attempting to enforce a certain religion upon our society), orientational equality (encouraging or condoning discrimination against homosexuals/bisexuals, denying non-heterosexuals domestic/civil rights and liberty), abortion (opposing abortions even when the mother’s life is in danger), "family values" (upholding an ideal of the nuclear family), and euthanasia/Doctor-Assisted-Suicide (mandating that a patient’s terminal illness run its "natural course").
Both groups seem to want to manipulate the issue of censorship in order to censor basically whatever they don’t like; although it should be acknowledged that there are both liberals and conservatives who are anti-censorship.
Of course, not everyone’s ideological platform veers to such extremes. But when it does, these sentiments frequently result in party loyalty, creating divisions along Republican/Democratic party lines. Many voters will appease a party establishment on certain issues just to get the party’s "support" on specific issues, which stomps on the concepts of free thought and justice. Politicians can be masters at pitting citizens against each other, in order to get people’s votes and to attain personal power/wealth. Really quite disgusting, when you think about it.
Ultimately, I think the basic common ground we all share is that none of us want to be bossed around by others when it comes to core components of our personal lives: what religion we practice (or refuse to practice), who we love and wish to take on as our spouse, what the quality of our health is, having freedom of speech and freedom on the Internet, protecting our privacy, not being victimized by crime and by criminals, safety for ourselves and for our children. I highly doubt there is anyone here who wants Big Brother to tell us how to think or how our lives should be run.
The crux is actually overcoming these barriers and obstacles to ensure liberty, equality, and justice for all in our society, despite what your vision for a social ideal may be. There are a lot of things which I don’t agree with that people do in the world - - but as long as they don’t violate my rights or anyone else’s rights, who am I to tell people they can’t do something?
Maybe this will give you folks some insight as to why I get so bitter at times. Basically, I’m sick of people trying to control each other, and all the tugs-of-war which ensue from such power struggles. We could get a lot accomplished in our society if people would just abandon the mindset of I’m right about everything.
I’d like to get everyone else’s thoughts on this, in what could end up leading to a meaningful discussion. This is an easy topic to simply ignore, but I hope to hear the perspectives from each and every one of you regarding this problem. Am I just imagining this polarized ideological extremism in our society, or does it really exist?
I think it does.
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