I recently had an online conversation with a person who plans to vote for a candidate that I think no intelligent, sane, decent person could ever vote for. And yet I know without any doubt that this person is intelligent, sane and decent. What gives?
I came to the notion that the nature of political conflict has fundamentally changed. Political divisions used to be organized around the question, “What shall we do?” Raise taxes, or lower them? Empower businesses or workers? Pursue an aggressive or conciliatory foreign posture? But “what to do” is no longer the question.
Now, political divisions are organized around the question, “What is real?” Is global warming a serious threat or a hoax? Is Portland a flaming anarchist hell-hole, or a nice place to live that’s 99.9% peaceful? Is Covid-19 a life-threatening illness, or a case of the sniffles?
We live in the same country, but on different planets. And what you see from Planet Red bears little resemblance to what you see from Planet Blue.
On Planet Red, Donald Trump is restoring American greatness. On Planet Blue, he is threatening the very foundations of the Republic.
On Planet Blue, the earth is 4.5 billion years old. On Planet Red, it is 6,000 years old.
On Planet Red, Barack Obama illegally spied on Trump’s campaign. On Planet Blue, it would have been malfeasance to not investigate, given the Trump campaign’s willingness to accept help from Russia.
On Planet Blue, the Mueller Report documented multiple instances of impeachable crimes. On Planet Red, the Mueller Report exonerated the President.
On Planet Red, there is no distinction between liberals and antifa. On Planet Blue, there is no distinction between conservatives and Proud Boys.
And so on, ad nauseum.
At this point, you may be ready to dismiss me as a hopeless “both-sides” person. I am not. I do not for a moment believe the view from both planets is equally valid. I believe one planet gets things more or less right and the other planet gets things disastrously wrong. I am a partisan.
And yet I also believe neither planet gets things completely right or completely wrong. In the heat of political warfare, we entrench ourselves in the view that we are completely right and they are completely wrong. But if we love our country more than we love our red/blue planets, we are at some point going to have to back down from that stance and ask, “What about my view may not be right? What about their view may be right?” We are going to have to invest ourselves in understanding the other point of view, not merely defeating it.
I am going to fight for my candidate. I am going to give him money. I am going to organize for him. I am going to vote as if our country’s future depends on him winning; I believe it does. But regardless of who wins, I also believe our country’s future depends on us backing down from the ledge of desiring each other’s destruction. I believe it depends on us being willing to question our own version of truth, and to consider what elements of truth the other planet may possess. It depends on us approaching each other as potential friends, not sworn enemies. If you extend a hand across the aisle in this manner, most people will probably bat it away. Move on. Look for those who are willing to engage with you in the same spirit. Find out what they see that you’ve been missing.