How does a nation of 330 million people with diverse backgrounds, cultures and political views heal and move forward together peacefully?
This great nation has been extremely polarized for quite some time now, and it seems to be getting worse each year. I attribute this to two main causes:
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- …social media, which magnifies many of our differences while making it far too easy to disrespectfully engage with each other. We are far more civil when chatting with our fellow humans face-to-face than through a screen.
- …growing government power. The more power a government wields the greater the impact politicians can have on our lives. If someone we don’t like gets elected to office the potential negative impact on our lives is much greater (whether perceived or real). In other words, the more power a politician holds the more that is at stake in each election, which naturally exacerbates our differences, fears and insecurities, and leads to greater polarization and heightened tensions.
Note: This is why it is SO important that government power be as localized as possible. The Founding Fathers understood this deeply and intended for the powers of the federal government to be strictly enumerated. Continue reading “Unbiased, Unsolicited Thoughts on Political Discourse”