MaxedOutMama
Monday, November 22, 2004
The Wandering Mind
has been posting on the question of our perceived differences and our real differences. I thought it fit well with the discussion Lancelot Finn and Nato are having. In this post and continuing in this post, Alex voiced some skepticism about the current round of political punditry:
"A few weeks after the election, we are once again comfortable in the mindless bashing. Rather than discuss relevant issues in a meaningful exchange, as BunkerMulligan has often stated, the next round of debates have begun- debates in name only, with the intent of silencing the any and all of the opposing voices."
Alex believes the perception of the great chasm dividing the "two Americas" is a perception manufactured for political purposes by two opposing propaganda machines. I disagree with some of what he says, but I feel pretty strongly that he is correct in picking out the lack of any real discussion of the issues of the day as feeding the frenzy. Let's face it - in the last election I didn't get the debate I wanted on the Patriot Act, the war, possible alternatives to the war or some of the structural employment problems. Instead I got a load of nonsense. The only way that political operatives can differentiate their candidates from the opposition while ignoring any difficult issues is to set up ideological straw men to knock down or scarecrows to guard their voting blocks. In short, the demonization tactic - one that they consider less risky, but one that shortchanges our national debate - that national debate so crucial to reaching a consensus in a democracy.
Alex continues:
"At times, we demand absolute Justice and at times we demand absolute Liberty, sometimes forgetting there may be a necessary friction so as to keep us on our guard. Neither liberty or justice are meant to be taken lightly. They are meant to be discussed, debated and at times, argued. These democratic attributes are to be regarded as the living and breathing embodiment of rights, the blood that runs through that living breathing body we call democracy.
"As I wrote yesterday, "Elections and issues are now emotional exercises, rather than intellectual ones. As any good Hollywood director knows, 'make 'em laugh or make 'em cry, and you'll sell tickets.' We are being sold tickets and the studio with the funnier or sadder film, wins. This cannot continue."
"This sorry state of affairs are the result of mass marketing of ideas and the oversimplification of ideas. Both sides of the political spectrum dismiss each other with generalizations and the deliberate mischaracterization of of beliefs and intent. Human nature being what it is, we are ever eager to have the difficult things in life explained to us or handed to us on a silver platter- and the Washington political elites know it."
Here I slightly disagree. Outraged mobs are fun, but my guess is that most of our population has outgrown the need to roar in a crowd and is looking for some measured answers. My guess is that the huge mass of the American population dislikes absolutist and radical solutions, no matter what political party you wrap them in. Alex goes on to discuss the way we characterize ourselves:
"There is no great chasm between the ideas between the groups and ideologies they share, only the paths taken. The chasm is an artificial one, really, a construct of the political parties themselves and the media:
"Liberals are all hard left wingers, wanting to usurp everything that America stands for- or they are progressive and forward thinking, always ready to stand up for the weak and oppressed.
"Conservatives are fascists or bigots- or, they are people of faith, values and patriotism, always ready to defend the just society based on the Golden Rule."
And so the two sides are mirror images in his view - the real competition is between the all-or-nothingers and those in the middle. In a later post he talks about common ground:
"As in economics, there is a free market of ideas and thoughts, as I like to say. That market place responds in the same way the financial ones do- laissez faire, or let the marketplace decide. Over a period of time, the wild sways of the pendulum tend to self correct and the markets, like ideas, reach a certain equilibrium."
Maybe, maybe not. They do only to the extent the marketplace is allowed to prevail. In the last twenty years we've conducted a lot of witch hunts which have tended to empty the forum of the middle ground. It is now more politically correct to announce that the other party is formed by hysterical, murderous idiots than to suggest publicly that maybe, just maybe, we have tipped the legal and social scale a little too much in favor of the woman alleging her child was molested by her husband in a divorce case, or that her husband beat her in a divorce case, or the woman alleging a hostile work environment due to sexual harassment.
See? You flinched or got angry with me, didn't you? Radicalism has become a thought pattern, and appeals to fairness or reasoned dissent to the consensus of the moment are neither admired or tolerated. We have managed to create entire social crimes for which the mere accusation is usually a preemptive strike, and even if the strike fails there is little penalty. We have created incentives to uncivil speech and actions within our culture, and we are now reaping the rewards of it.
"A few weeks after the election, we are once again comfortable in the mindless bashing. Rather than discuss relevant issues in a meaningful exchange, as BunkerMulligan has often stated, the next round of debates have begun- debates in name only, with the intent of silencing the any and all of the opposing voices."
Alex believes the perception of the great chasm dividing the "two Americas" is a perception manufactured for political purposes by two opposing propaganda machines. I disagree with some of what he says, but I feel pretty strongly that he is correct in picking out the lack of any real discussion of the issues of the day as feeding the frenzy. Let's face it - in the last election I didn't get the debate I wanted on the Patriot Act, the war, possible alternatives to the war or some of the structural employment problems. Instead I got a load of nonsense. The only way that political operatives can differentiate their candidates from the opposition while ignoring any difficult issues is to set up ideological straw men to knock down or scarecrows to guard their voting blocks. In short, the demonization tactic - one that they consider less risky, but one that shortchanges our national debate - that national debate so crucial to reaching a consensus in a democracy.
Alex continues:
"At times, we demand absolute Justice and at times we demand absolute Liberty, sometimes forgetting there may be a necessary friction so as to keep us on our guard. Neither liberty or justice are meant to be taken lightly. They are meant to be discussed, debated and at times, argued. These democratic attributes are to be regarded as the living and breathing embodiment of rights, the blood that runs through that living breathing body we call democracy.
"As I wrote yesterday, "Elections and issues are now emotional exercises, rather than intellectual ones. As any good Hollywood director knows, 'make 'em laugh or make 'em cry, and you'll sell tickets.' We are being sold tickets and the studio with the funnier or sadder film, wins. This cannot continue."
"This sorry state of affairs are the result of mass marketing of ideas and the oversimplification of ideas. Both sides of the political spectrum dismiss each other with generalizations and the deliberate mischaracterization of of beliefs and intent. Human nature being what it is, we are ever eager to have the difficult things in life explained to us or handed to us on a silver platter- and the Washington political elites know it."
Here I slightly disagree. Outraged mobs are fun, but my guess is that most of our population has outgrown the need to roar in a crowd and is looking for some measured answers. My guess is that the huge mass of the American population dislikes absolutist and radical solutions, no matter what political party you wrap them in. Alex goes on to discuss the way we characterize ourselves:
"There is no great chasm between the ideas between the groups and ideologies they share, only the paths taken. The chasm is an artificial one, really, a construct of the political parties themselves and the media:
"Liberals are all hard left wingers, wanting to usurp everything that America stands for- or they are progressive and forward thinking, always ready to stand up for the weak and oppressed.
"Conservatives are fascists or bigots- or, they are people of faith, values and patriotism, always ready to defend the just society based on the Golden Rule."
And so the two sides are mirror images in his view - the real competition is between the all-or-nothingers and those in the middle. In a later post he talks about common ground:
"As in economics, there is a free market of ideas and thoughts, as I like to say. That market place responds in the same way the financial ones do- laissez faire, or let the marketplace decide. Over a period of time, the wild sways of the pendulum tend to self correct and the markets, like ideas, reach a certain equilibrium."
Maybe, maybe not. They do only to the extent the marketplace is allowed to prevail. In the last twenty years we've conducted a lot of witch hunts which have tended to empty the forum of the middle ground. It is now more politically correct to announce that the other party is formed by hysterical, murderous idiots than to suggest publicly that maybe, just maybe, we have tipped the legal and social scale a little too much in favor of the woman alleging her child was molested by her husband in a divorce case, or that her husband beat her in a divorce case, or the woman alleging a hostile work environment due to sexual harassment.
See? You flinched or got angry with me, didn't you? Radicalism has become a thought pattern, and appeals to fairness or reasoned dissent to the consensus of the moment are neither admired or tolerated. We have managed to create entire social crimes for which the mere accusation is usually a preemptive strike, and even if the strike fails there is little penalty. We have created incentives to uncivil speech and actions within our culture, and we are now reaping the rewards of it.
Comments:
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Alex - the only clue I might have as to the rancor and "vitriol" is that very few real issues were discussed in the campaign. I think people tend to become less excited when they are talking about an external, objective issue, rather than who's to blame.
Truly thought provoking, had a nice visit here at your blog, found it blog surfing. I hope we do one day get back to elections that deal with issuesinstead of setting up scapegoats, however some many people only seem intent on pointing fingers and belittling eachother, it takes so much less work and thought, I wonder will we ever break the pattern? Peace.
K-Squared,
I think we the people will have to reclaim the process. A few thousand political operatives can't control the country's thought processes, just as Dan Rather can't really control the news. The internet has presented your average citizen with a wealth of resources and an easy way to combine our individual knowledge in a cooperative fashion.
A decade or two from now I believe the "news" cycle will be a very different one, and political operatives will spend a great deal of time reading through all the internet discussion groups to find out what is really resonating with the voters. We are going to see a radical shift in the political climate.
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I think we the people will have to reclaim the process. A few thousand political operatives can't control the country's thought processes, just as Dan Rather can't really control the news. The internet has presented your average citizen with a wealth of resources and an easy way to combine our individual knowledge in a cooperative fashion.
A decade or two from now I believe the "news" cycle will be a very different one, and political operatives will spend a great deal of time reading through all the internet discussion groups to find out what is really resonating with the voters. We are going to see a radical shift in the political climate.
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