The Witness Chronicles, April 22, 2024
The lunacy of division and hate
Republicans Are Not Aliens and Neither Are Democrats
What extremism on both sides is doing to all of us
“The story we are missing is the story of a better future”
This weekend the House of Representatives actually managed to accomplish some things, big things like aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. And they did it with both parties, at least a majority of them, despite rabid threats from the far right Freedom Caucus, threats targeting Republican House Speaker Johnson, himself an ultra-conservative.
A reminder of how governing is supposed to work. It doesn’t work by hurling a constant stream of hate-filled speech at anyone you disagree with, no matter what the ex-President and current resident of a Manhattan criminal courtroom says. He is wrong in his belief that Democrats and Biden are tools of the devil.
If the devil exists, he would be the one using the tactics of hate and division to set us against each other. His worst nightmare is a simple, civil conversation with someone you disagree with, because he knows that all his invective falls to pieces in the face of calm decency between strangers.
After writing a previous piece about the very strange and alarming place we find our country in right now, I received some supportive comments from a reader who identifies as a conservative, who knows I am an old school liberal Democrat. I get plenty of feedback supporting my opinions and some that hates them (fortunately not that much negative stuff).
But a reasonable dialog with a reader who identifies as different from me is exactly what I hoped that article would generate. Because I am not an alien and neither is that reader. We’re both humans inhabiting a planet together and it is in the interest of some to change that.
There are two things in this year’s America that bother me. One is apathy and the other is rage, the kind that is generated internally and ready to explode. Politicians like Donald Trump and his most rabid followers let themselves be consumed by that rage for absolutely no reason.
And if you look at the source of that rage, it is fear of the unknown, fear stoked by misinformation, lies, and violent rhetoric. This is designed to obliterate common sense and our natural shared perspective on life. Rage is a tool used to manipulate people into fearing those they have never met.
The odd thing is, if you can tamp down the rage and simply talk a bit about something else other than politics and fear, you find that we have far more in common than not. Somehow we have forgotten that commonality.
The actions in the House this weekend don’t end the acrimony and mudslinging. But they do indicate a thaw, a crack in the ice holding us apart. This is very bad news for those on the extreme ends of both parties, those who see the world as us and them, as absolutes not subject to discussion or reasonable disagreement.
We hear progressives making scary statements in support of groups like Hamas, deadly terrorists who only exist to spread hate and death. Those same progressives now hate Israel, a country they always supported wholeheartedly. It’s the same for the hard right who see demons in everyone who they disagree with about anything.
They embrace real devils like Vladimir Putin who openly wants the downfall of the American way. What is the difference between supporting Hamas and supporting a murderous dictator? There is none because neither position is based on anything more than hate and rage.
You’ll notice a thread here. Hate can only be unreasonable because there is no true justification for it. Yes there are men and women who have lost their souls and do terrible things to others. History is full of them. And reasonable humans know they must be stopped at any cost except the loss of that humanity. But once they are stopped we have to move forward together to undo their actions.
It’s the only way.
We should be talking about building a better future, not spreading paranoid fantasies about hidden powers doing things to us. The future is extremely uncertain. On one hand our technology is advancing at a breakneck pace, solving core problems like sustainable energy and rebuilding soil across the planet, not to mention rapid fire advances in medicine and treatments for devastating conditions like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Those who spread negativity see a future that is bleak, dystopian, and autocratic. But it doesn’t have to be. The path to that is a reasonable conversation with those we disagree with. It’s only a start but it is the necessary step to rebuilding our broken system on both sides.
~ I write The Grasshopper, a letter for creatives, The Witness Chronicles, a place for my articles on politics and climate, and The Remarkable, a recovery letter, about my addiction and reentry experience. All are weekly and free, however this is how I live and I strongly believe all writers and creatives should get paid, if we provide value. Your upgrade to a paid subscription helps make that happen.
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[ We hear progressives making scary statements in support of groups like Hamas, deadly terrorists who only exist to spread hate and death. Those same progressives now hate Israel, a country they always supported wholeheartedly. It’s the same for the hard right who see demons in everyone who they disagree with about anything. ]
Could you do an article on the various instances where progressives have made statements of support of Hamas?
A recent Gallup poll has 75% of Democrats not supporting Israel's military action in Gaza. Among Independents, 60% do not support Israel's military action in Gaza. That doesn't mean that a majority within these groups do not support Israel. It means the actions currently taken by the Netanyahu administration, are not supported by a majority of Ds and Is. It also doesn't mean that there is support for Hamas among these same groups. Even if someone says that they understand WHY there is a Hamas, it doesn't mean that they support the murder of innocent civilians, either by Hamas or by the IDF. Do you have polling to suggest that there are progressives that support Hamas terrorism in significant numbers? If so, you should probably write about that.