Why do we hate politics?
Because we are too lazy and prideful to try to understand positions that
challenge what we consider to be deeply-held beliefs. The problem is that we attach non-political
deeply-held beliefs (often religious or philosophical) to extreme political
talking points.
As the article below explains, people are extremely polarized when defending their political positions—but when it comes down the actual policy in practice, they become much more moderate. I have been guilty of this myself, and the more I have been involved in policy as opposed to politics, the more I have realized that there is no easy answer to any issue. There is no extreme libertarian viewpoint or extreme socialist viewpoint that can solve the extremely complex problems we face in today’s modern world.
I have also come to realize that you don’t have to surrender your deeply-held religious and philosophical convictions to admit that you may be wrong on policy in action. The purpose of policy is to help us all live together in the same society despite our differences. That means we are going to have to compromise in order to find the policy that best meets the needs of everyone. To me, that also means that my vote is a means to an end, not a reflection of my deeply held religious and philosophical beliefs.
My wish is that we could set politics aside and talk openly about policy without being offended or afraid to have our own assumptions challenged. Imagine the problems we could solve together.
As the article below explains, people are extremely polarized when defending their political positions—but when it comes down the actual policy in practice, they become much more moderate. I have been guilty of this myself, and the more I have been involved in policy as opposed to politics, the more I have realized that there is no easy answer to any issue. There is no extreme libertarian viewpoint or extreme socialist viewpoint that can solve the extremely complex problems we face in today’s modern world.
I have also come to realize that you don’t have to surrender your deeply-held religious and philosophical convictions to admit that you may be wrong on policy in action. The purpose of policy is to help us all live together in the same society despite our differences. That means we are going to have to compromise in order to find the policy that best meets the needs of everyone. To me, that also means that my vote is a means to an end, not a reflection of my deeply held religious and philosophical beliefs.
My wish is that we could set politics aside and talk openly about policy without being offended or afraid to have our own assumptions challenged. Imagine the problems we could solve together.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/21/opinion/sunday/why-partisans-cant-explain-their-views.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0
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