Spring Break
Reject rage, embrace empiricism
Jon Dougherty
Issue date: 10/16/08 Section: Opinion
Time for some raw opinion:
I have heard a lot about rage and anger this week. Primarily, the focus has been on a couple of GOP rallies for John McCain recently, where individual question askers have discussed not necessarily the state of the nation, not necessarily any specific issue at hand, but anger and rage at the prospect of a Barack Obama presidency. They claim he is not a true American, he does not love his country; some go so far as to claim he is an enemy saboteur, sent to lead us into despair.
This is similar to the rage expressed by Democratic supporters in 2004 at the specter of reelecting George W. Bush after the widely acknowledged botching of the war in Iraq. At the time, and even to this day, some will say there are only two explanations for Bush's actions: either he is stupid or evil.
The language being invoked in these types of descriptions reviles those with different political preferences as those interested in nothing but personal benefit against general disarray. Both camps must be included because it is extremists of all types that are guilty.
We cannot have agreement as a prerequisite for political discourse. People must come to decisions with the good faith that all are interested in a strong, prosperous future for America, whatever their vision of what our country may be. Obama is not a terrorist because he knows a guy who was, even if he worked with him. McCain is not the same guy as Bush, even though they are of the same party. When we begin political dialogue from the viewpoint of "all with me are good, all against me are evil," we leave room only for hatred and enmity, not compromise. We are a country that was built on the diversity of opinion, on the right to be seen as different, but worthy.
Our political relationships to each other have roughened within a crust of ideological partisanship.
My advice, my plea to my fellow Americans, and more narrowly, my fellow Pirates with whom I attend class, and debate the future of the world, is this: let your reason guide you. Allow yourself to treat each situation dispassionately, uniquely, holding only in view the end you wish for your future and those of your children and all the available, empirical facts about how to get there, whether they be to your liking or not. Allow yourself permission to consider, perhaps even incorporate, new viewpoints--based on evidence-- about how to achieve a happy tomorrow.
I have heard a lot about rage and anger this week. Primarily, the focus has been on a couple of GOP rallies for John McCain recently, where individual question askers have discussed not necessarily the state of the nation, not necessarily any specific issue at hand, but anger and rage at the prospect of a Barack Obama presidency. They claim he is not a true American, he does not love his country; some go so far as to claim he is an enemy saboteur, sent to lead us into despair.
This is similar to the rage expressed by Democratic supporters in 2004 at the specter of reelecting George W. Bush after the widely acknowledged botching of the war in Iraq. At the time, and even to this day, some will say there are only two explanations for Bush's actions: either he is stupid or evil.
The language being invoked in these types of descriptions reviles those with different political preferences as those interested in nothing but personal benefit against general disarray. Both camps must be included because it is extremists of all types that are guilty.
We cannot have agreement as a prerequisite for political discourse. People must come to decisions with the good faith that all are interested in a strong, prosperous future for America, whatever their vision of what our country may be. Obama is not a terrorist because he knows a guy who was, even if he worked with him. McCain is not the same guy as Bush, even though they are of the same party. When we begin political dialogue from the viewpoint of "all with me are good, all against me are evil," we leave room only for hatred and enmity, not compromise. We are a country that was built on the diversity of opinion, on the right to be seen as different, but worthy.
Our political relationships to each other have roughened within a crust of ideological partisanship.
My advice, my plea to my fellow Americans, and more narrowly, my fellow Pirates with whom I attend class, and debate the future of the world, is this: let your reason guide you. Allow yourself to treat each situation dispassionately, uniquely, holding only in view the end you wish for your future and those of your children and all the available, empirical facts about how to get there, whether they be to your liking or not. Allow yourself permission to consider, perhaps even incorporate, new viewpoints--based on evidence-- about how to achieve a happy tomorrow.
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