08Sep Us versus “Them”
120 views
Labels are dangerous when used improperly regardless if they were created in good intentions. The present day world is filled with named factions that rage verbal or physical war on each other for nothing more than self affirming the dominance of their party. This is somehow deeply ingrained in our human nature… to provide loyalty to our clan and subvert others to establish dominance. If you’re not quite sure where I’m going with this, I am hinting at the fruitless debate between the American political parties.
Democrats and republicans have evolved to hated enemies of each other… no longer remembering that they were formed to work in harmony over national issues. In my opinion, there is one major entity to blame for this downfall and social dysfunction of the parties. That would be the American media. Regardless of the national media network you watch, you are being spoon-fed DAILY about the ‘evils’ of the other party that that media network is associated with. I can’t watch any of the big three news networks for more than an hour without being told why one party is better than the other. This is a shame that they choose to demonize and point fingers rather than focusing on the core of the issues at hand.
Should matters like health care regulation be shunned because it ‘sounds’ like a certain party’s agenda? On another separate issue, I heard from one news network that a certain bill wasn’t worth looking into because the originator happened to be from the other party so the bill could be linked to promoting that party’s cause “somehow”. This is the kind of blind hatred that has caused our political degradation. So what do I propose? I would merge all political divisions… democrats, republicans, and the other 3rd parties. Why can’t a person have a mixture of beliefs instead of being forced to conform to only the stances their party supports? The fact that someone who tends to be liberal is only going to feel at home in a democrat party versus someone who is more conservative in their views will have few options but go republican is a sad commentary on how the parties have outlived their usefulness.
The only person who benefits from this segregation is not the voter but the news networks. Controversy sells and the media has turned our political system into a kind of dark entertainment art form. Let’s spend less time worrying about if new policies fit the agenda of our party… and instead focus on what is “right” and benefits people the most. I normally don’t blog about political matters, but I find this dilemma in need of more attention than what it currently gets. Anyone else feel the same way?
|
Author: Jonathan Dunlap Jonathan is an experienced software engineer, sole blogger of JADBOX, author of FlashMVC, humanitarian, and has contracted work for Microsoft, Coke, and Disney. |
September 8th, 2009 at 9:56 am
I feel the same way that something needs to be done. Over centuries of political turmoil since the nation was founded, feuds and propaganda have broken out amongst politicians on all front. The age old campaign promotions of he or she is evil and I am the right choice has been going on since day one. I believe that the elimination of political paradigms would greatly benefit society. However, this is based solely on the argument you (Jon) have just laid out. In order to effectively do something like this would take massive amounts of years and time in enact. Age old norms of our American society would have to be broken, possibly through the one thing noted as the cause of all this: media. Through media we could socialize the public to believe in the notion of the jack of all trades politician, if you will. Additionally, the American notion of competition and pride, caused by years of capitalist mentalities and global wars would also have to be broken. Today we as Americans conceptualize an us verse them ideology, and again this will need to be broken through socialization. Which leaves me to my last thought, is fixing a problem brought about through manipulation, corruption, and socialization, by using the same exact methods feasible?
With that question, is the root of the corruption in government due really to the labels of alignment, or the corruption of lobbyists and buy offs? Some would argue that a democrat and a republican are the exact same, the only differences would be that of a color on a car. Regardless there is a real problem in our political system, one that needs remedy. In my opinion the remedy comes from us the people. In this day and age there is no notion on unity amongst the American people anymore, no one wants to stand up in masses to fix problems we know are occurring. Posting blogs and all are a start, and I am grateful for anyone willing to stand up and speak their minds, but at the same time blogs have become a way of the convenience. I myself would rather post on sites my opinions than write my senator a letter, or march to the white house, but the answer and solution is not in blogging it is in action, real life physical action. Only than will the largest force in the US, us the people, be able to truly let our voices be heard, through unity and action.
December 9th, 2009 at 7:51 am
Generally I don’t do politics but there is two words that come after reading your post: Hegelian Dialectic.