Yesterday I saw a post on the Platform Formerly Known as Twitter from my senior senator, Elizabeth Warren: “It’s #NationalSeniorCitizensDay,” she wrote, “& here’s something new to celebrate in 2023: Nearly 4 million seniors—including ~57,000 in Massachusetts—now have insulin costs capped at $35/month. All thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act. No thanks to Republicans in Congress, who all voted no.”
I thought this was too bad. She started out well enough with “something new to celebrate.” Very positive. But then she ruined it at the end with a gratuitous partisan attack.
It got me thinking, for the umpteenth time, about the political polarization that is tearing apart this land that I love.
We’re spiraling out of control. With each new outrage by the other side, we respond with a greater outrage of our own. Everyone is calling to lock up everyone else. Bitterness, anger, and hate saturate every discussion. Friendships end. Family members are at each other’s throats across the turkey and cranberry sauce. Some people are even seriously calling for a new civil war. I’m a student of history. I know what that means: Cities shelled into rubble. Huddling in terror in a bomb shelter, weak and dehydrated from starvation and cholera. When Civil War 2.0 is trending on social media, it’s time to dial back the cray cray and make a concerted effort to reach out across the aisle and heal the partisan divide.
I know what some of you are going to say. “Reaching out across the aisle is why our side keeps losing. We’re too polite to stand up for our beliefs.”
I respectfully disagree. Standing up for your beliefs is not impolite. Completely different things. The first is about what you do. The second is about how you do it.
Always stand up for your beliefs. Declare them with confidence and pride. Back them with unassailable logic. Never back down on any issue of substance.
Just do it without being a dick.
“But the other side are dicks,” I hear you cry. “So we have to be too.”
No you don’t.
We’ve all seen conflicts where one party is a genuine a$$hole and the other stands their ground with grace and class. In that situation, most people are going to root for the second guy.
You see what I did there? I disagreed with you without being a dick.
With that in mind, here are the
Top 10 Ways to Heal the Partisan Divide…without Giving in on Substance:
10. Your fellow Americans on the other side of the aisle are your opponents, not your enemies.
9. Look for areas of common ground. Those are opportunities to actually accomplish something.
8. After a long day of partisan wrangling, go get a beer with your opponent.
7. Do not cast aspersions on your opponents’ sincerity. Yes, they disagree with you. That doesn’t mean they’re lying, pandering to their voters, deliberately trying to make other people suffer, or under the hypnotic control of Vladimir Putin. In their heart of hearts, they really believe that what they propose is the best way to bring peace and prosperity to our nation.
6. Republicans: Hardly any Democrats are communists. Democrats: Hardly any Republicans are white supremacists.
5. When your opponent gets one right, give credit where credit is due.
4. Davidson’s Razor (aka the Principle of Charity): If your opponents say something that can be interpreted in more than one way, choose the interpretation that makes them seem the most reasonable.
3. Eliminate double standards. Hold your own side to the same moral and legal principles you hold your opponents. You may find yourself excusing your own because “That’s different.” Nine times out of ten, it really isn’t.
2. Family and friends are more important than politics.
And the Number One Way to Heal the Partisan Divide…without Giving in on Substance:
Attack ideas, not people.
Michael Isenberg likes ribeyes, bourbon, and writing novels. Please check out his latest, The Thread of Reason, at http://amazon.com/dp/0985329750.