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The Problem With Certainty
19 years ago
General
Greetings to all you fellow Americans out there... I'm going to throw a hypothetical political concept at you right now, and it is this: 'Without the strong leadership of conservative Republicans to guide this great country, we as a nation are under direct threat from terrorists, runaway spending and gradual moral decay. Liberal Democrats despise the values that true Americans hold dear. Don't let liberal activists harm our nation. Vote Republican.'
Okay, I'm willing to bet that about half of you just shook your heads and snorted in annoyance, while the other half nodded and smiled in agreement. I most likely became either a voice of reason or a complete tool in your eyes. So now I'm going to shift gears on you: 'Actually I was kidding. Only the strong resolve of liberal Democrats can steer our country toward a future of prosperity, justice and social equality. Conservative Republicans are lying, war-mongering hypocrites who undermine the democratic process whenever it suits them. Don't let corporate toadies harm our nation. Vote Democrat.'
Yeah, I know, you get it already - same reactions, only switched. (And no, I'm not going to tell you which one of those proclamations is closest to my own beliefs, so you can stop worrying about that right now.) 'All right', you're probably thinking. 'Politics are divisive. So what? What's the big problem?' Well, the problem isn't about Rep vs. Dem, it's that, regardless of individual political allegiance, nearly every American who read the above statements most likely knew - just KNEW right down to their bones - that one of them was true while the other was false.
But in actuality, neither statement was true OR false... they were both only a matter of opinion. And therein lies the real problem as I see it - that we no longer want to distinguish between what is mere speculation and what is incontrovertible truth. We've become a nation that equates supposition with fact, rhetoric with validity, and faith with incontrovertible evidence of our righteousness - all based on nothing more than what we're more comfortable believing. We've abandoned reasonable discourse in favor of an endless cycle of patting ourselves on the back for being so 'obviously' right while belittling our naysayers as fools.
We no longer listen. Now we tilt at windmills and hack at straw men. We decide for our 'enemies' what they really think, regardless of what they actually say. How, I ask, can we claim to make informed choices when we refuse to hear all sides of a debate? How can we 'know' that we're right when we've dismissed the other side without even listening to them? And how can we share our ideas when we're too busy endlessly drowning each other out with insults and accusations?
I hate to say it, but political debate is effectively dead in this country. I say this not so much because of the glib 'I-know-you-are-but-what-am-I' nature of most of the political discussions we've reduced ourselves to having, but because on every facet of the political spectrum, we as a divided nation have decided to shun opinions that do not coincide with our own. We attack and dismiss those who do not agree with us, often by attributing thoughts and motives to them that they may not, in reality, have. We choose to give ourselves over to the smug speculations of those whose business is to tell us what the 'other side' thinks, so that we may be spared the effort of having to open our ears and truly listen.
I'm not immune. I'd love to tell you how you ought to vote this November. I'd love to explain to you about how I'm right, and how those whom I disagree with are wrong. Instead, I'm going to ask you to consider tuning out the propaganda and the rhetoric for the next few days. Listen, really LISTEN to what is being said, on ALL sides of the debate. Don't be so quick to judge those who disagree with you, and don't be persuaded simply because someone is telling you what you want to hear. Ask yourself if what you 'know' to be true can, in fact, be seen from other points of view. And above all, try to remember that sometimes having the courage of your convictions isn't as important as having the courage to question them.
Okay, I'm willing to bet that about half of you just shook your heads and snorted in annoyance, while the other half nodded and smiled in agreement. I most likely became either a voice of reason or a complete tool in your eyes. So now I'm going to shift gears on you: 'Actually I was kidding. Only the strong resolve of liberal Democrats can steer our country toward a future of prosperity, justice and social equality. Conservative Republicans are lying, war-mongering hypocrites who undermine the democratic process whenever it suits them. Don't let corporate toadies harm our nation. Vote Democrat.'
Yeah, I know, you get it already - same reactions, only switched. (And no, I'm not going to tell you which one of those proclamations is closest to my own beliefs, so you can stop worrying about that right now.) 'All right', you're probably thinking. 'Politics are divisive. So what? What's the big problem?' Well, the problem isn't about Rep vs. Dem, it's that, regardless of individual political allegiance, nearly every American who read the above statements most likely knew - just KNEW right down to their bones - that one of them was true while the other was false.
But in actuality, neither statement was true OR false... they were both only a matter of opinion. And therein lies the real problem as I see it - that we no longer want to distinguish between what is mere speculation and what is incontrovertible truth. We've become a nation that equates supposition with fact, rhetoric with validity, and faith with incontrovertible evidence of our righteousness - all based on nothing more than what we're more comfortable believing. We've abandoned reasonable discourse in favor of an endless cycle of patting ourselves on the back for being so 'obviously' right while belittling our naysayers as fools.
We no longer listen. Now we tilt at windmills and hack at straw men. We decide for our 'enemies' what they really think, regardless of what they actually say. How, I ask, can we claim to make informed choices when we refuse to hear all sides of a debate? How can we 'know' that we're right when we've dismissed the other side without even listening to them? And how can we share our ideas when we're too busy endlessly drowning each other out with insults and accusations?
I hate to say it, but political debate is effectively dead in this country. I say this not so much because of the glib 'I-know-you-are-but-what-am-I' nature of most of the political discussions we've reduced ourselves to having, but because on every facet of the political spectrum, we as a divided nation have decided to shun opinions that do not coincide with our own. We attack and dismiss those who do not agree with us, often by attributing thoughts and motives to them that they may not, in reality, have. We choose to give ourselves over to the smug speculations of those whose business is to tell us what the 'other side' thinks, so that we may be spared the effort of having to open our ears and truly listen.
I'm not immune. I'd love to tell you how you ought to vote this November. I'd love to explain to you about how I'm right, and how those whom I disagree with are wrong. Instead, I'm going to ask you to consider tuning out the propaganda and the rhetoric for the next few days. Listen, really LISTEN to what is being said, on ALL sides of the debate. Don't be so quick to judge those who disagree with you, and don't be persuaded simply because someone is telling you what you want to hear. Ask yourself if what you 'know' to be true can, in fact, be seen from other points of view. And above all, try to remember that sometimes having the courage of your convictions isn't as important as having the courage to question them.
I think it's funny. If only the informed people went out to vote: not those who only vote on personal reactions, religious beliefs, or who only vote for their own party without thinking about the issues at all, we'd probably have a voter turnout of a couple-hundred.
We owe it to ourselves to not only stay informed, but to stay actively involved in the political process. After all, politicians may have some power over us, but ultimately we have much more power over them, if only we choose to use it.
I'm not ready to give up on America (though I can certainly understand the temptation to flee it from time to time. :P ) The way I see it, every country has its share of problems - there's no perfect Utopia we can run to, because human beings will always be human beings, with all their inherent flaws. You can't really escape... the next best thing, I think, is to stand your ground and fight for what you hold dear. Things do change, even if it seems painfully slow sometimes.
Sometimes I think the bravest thing a person can do isn't so much to simply defend what he or she believes in, but to try and break out of the mindless cycle of 'attack/defend' and really think about what they're fighting for in the first place.
In the end, I think, it's best for America to turn off their TVs, free themselves of the mindless, slanderous babble, and do their own hard, unbiased research. But then, as other commenters have pointed out, the voter turnout would only be a few hundred.
-Ferox
Why make promises when you can get elected by smearing your opponents instead? It's the politics of the lowest common denominator, a system wherein you don't have to say what you'll do in office, how you'll vote, or even what your beliefs are... all you have to do is suggest that you're probably the lesser of two evils.
Unfortunately, this is the system that seems to work best. Our politicians can get away with raking us over the coals, lying to us, abusing their power and acting like the sleazy slash-and-burn artists that they are for one simple reason - we let them. We listen to their shallow crapola and vote for the guy with the best hair, or the one who tells us what we most want to hear. We no longer look any deeper into the issues than the nearest bumper sticker or call-in radio rant.
Ultimately the politicians want to keep us divided... it's so much easier to do what they do when they can count on our votes based solely on which 'team' we're on. And the sad thing is, it would be so easy to change all of this - as you say, all we need to do is start thinking for ourselves.