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Divided States of America

November 4, 2018 Leave a Comment

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Alexis de Tocqueville famously said, “I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such men do not run.”  (ca. 1835)

The American experiment has always been maintained by flawed leaders. I hear people say:  “Things could never have been as bad as they are now!” But remember, for example, Hamilton is not just a musical.  The man himself actually died in a dual after muting Aaron Burr on Twitter. Oh, and the Civil War. Nevertheless, the country today does seem irreparably at odds.  Can things improve?  Not without us all taking some responsibility. No snowflake in an avalanche feels responsible…

So consider these three reasons we are so divided:

Emotional Reactions

We fail to recognize the leveraging of emotion when we are the ones doing it. Emotional arguments feel reasonable within our own skin. When the other guy plays the emotional, narrative card, the manipulation seems obvious. In any relationship, resolving conflict requires each side to see the positive value beneath an opposing view, even if layered under negativity and name-calling. It’s amazing how quickly an angry adversary can settle down when you remain inflammable even as they try to light you on fire.

All or Nothing

Centuries ago, a Persian prophet named Mani described the world as a battleground between forces of good and evil.  He described human beings on the frontlines urgently needing to choose sides. His influence on Western thought persists to this day.  Today’s “right side of history” trope stems from that school of thought, Manichaenism. To a Manichaen, compromise is a sin. You’re either a ying or a yang, hot or cold, sheep or goat. “Are you one of us or one of them?  An ally or an enemy?”  Once upon a time only church people were accused of being self-righteous. Today our media is all a flutter with virtue signaling. People assert their righteousness on the basis of any number of social issues.  We have trouble conceiving how someone could oppose our point of view without there being something deeply disturbing about them.

“Them”

Demonizing “them” is an easy way to deflect an opposing point of view without actually having to wrestle with it. Jon Haidt’s book, The Righteous Mind challenges this tactic.  It is a primer of assumptions behind the spectrum of views. It sheds light upon the current polarity.  Given the enormous pressure in academia and the media to follow a particular narrative, I was surprised to read the following in his book: 

“Liberals stand up for victims of oppression…but their zeal to help often leads them to push for changes that weaken groups, traditions, institutions…. For example, the urge to help the inner-city poor led to welfare programs in the 1960s that…weakened African American families.”

The lack of freedom to offer this kind of self-critique more broadly is a profound blind spot amidst social justice orthodoxy. Hunger for political power conflicts with principles that actually elevate people. As a result, anyone who dares question any tactic is immediately marginalized as one of “them.”  

So, what can we do to improve?

1)  Exchange protest for proactive

Bob Lupton (Toxic Charity) is a friend who has lived/worked in south Atlanta for 40 years on economic development. With Bob’s help, in our town we have started a coalition to address division and inequity proactively, not by protest. Our six strategies do not provide immediate, partisan, emotional gratification. They play the long game. Things can improve markedly when we stop expecting a quick federal fix from DC.

2)  Become an informed voter.

The & Campaign is a non-partisan group that does as good a job as any to guide people who want to vote their conscience.  You can begin by reading an overview of their work HERE.

Click the comment button at the top to weigh in.

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