The Destructive Power of Polarizing Words

I find the discussion of ideas to be one of the foundations of what is good about ATS. It is food for the soul to exchange freely concepts and speculation with other members of our community and indeed what keeps most of us coming back for more. Lately I have noticed how many good threads that focus on an idea or theory become derailed by one or two posters that interject partisan labels or polarizing phrases into the discussion. I know that I am also guilty of this from time to time, but I have made it one of my personal goals to move beyond politics and into the realm of understanding and personal growth.

What concerns me most is when a thread where people are discussing concepts such as the defense of the Constitution or corruption in our Government and someone has to interject regarding which party did this or that in a polarizing way. The way I see it, the defense of the Constitution of the United States is not a political discussion as much it is one of the defense of liberty. It should be an obligation of each individual, regardless of political leanings, to preserve and protect this most important document. The same can be said of corruption in Government. There is no political party free from corruption and again, as individuals, this is something that we must take issue with regardless of party or affiliation.

I suppose what I would like to see is some common ground on which we can all agree. If an arm of the Government (e.g. the IRS) targets its political enemies then we are ALL diminished in ways that can be irreparable unless we can come together and make sure that Government realizes this is NOT okay. If the first amendment rights of anyone are attacked then we must stand united and say this cannot be conceded. This is one of the reasons that I support so wholeheartedly a supposed liberal leaning organization such as the ACLU despite my personal conservative leanings.

My wife always says I make a terrible conservative because at the end of the day I believe in what is right over what is supposedly a conservative or liberal issue. I don’t have to like what is going on to support my fellow citizen’s right to pursue their own individual liberty and happiness. This means that I support my fellow citizen’s right to bear arms and right to marry whom they choose, regardless of politics and personal opinion, simply because it is the right thing to do.

I hope you will all join me in at least considering before we post polarizing words like the names of political parties or other philosophical personal leanings. If we can avoid polarizing words like liberal or Republican then we can more easily keep our friends and even opponents at the table. In this way we can open minds and expand our awareness in the noble pursuit of improving ourselves and our world.

Excellent. Now if we could just get the media and Congress on board..............

reply to post by Metallicus


Beautifully written, Metallicus. I agree with you wholeheartedly. Polarization, I think could fall under the parable, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone". In the case of political partisanship, neither side is without the common "sins" that we would hope did not exist within our government. I avoid political doublespeak, partisanship blame and more as a rule because, particularly through the media, it has truly polarized and emasculated our political discourse to a strong negative effect. It seems that far too much time is spent on finger pointing than actually discussing the issues. It's a lot easier, apparently, to type up a one or two sentence post blaming the "other guy" than to actually address the issues themselves. Considering that our media is largely congested into 5 megacorporations who funnel discourse this way or that, why on earth would any willingly mirror that behavior on a public forum?

Metallicus

I suppose what I would like to see is some common ground on which we can all agree. If an arm of the Government (e.g. the IRS) targets its political enemies then we are ALL diminished in ways that can be irreparable unless we can come together and make sure that Government realizes this is NOT okay. If the first amendment rights of anyone are attacked then we must stand united and say this cannot be conceded. This is one of the reasons that I support so wholeheartedly a supposed liberal leaning organization such as the ACLU despite my personal conservative leanings.

My wife always says I make a terrible conservative because at the end of the day I believe in what is right over what is supposedly a conservative or liberal issue. I don’t have to like what is going on to support my fellow citizen’s right to pursue their own individual liberty and happiness. This means that I support my fellow citizen’s right to bear arms and right to marry whom they choose, regardless of politics and personal opinion, simply because it is the right thing to do.

Part of the problem with finding common ground can be found above.

NO one has a monopoly on Right.

No ones a Right wing republican or Left wing Dem, Because they believe they are doing "wrong".

America is a diverse nation, filled with opinions, governed by Law.

We all believe what we do is "right" no one wants to admit their interest are detrimental to all, despite the evidence all around.

Liberal, Conservatives, Right, Left, what ever, I do agree, we need to come together as Americans first and foremost, everything else 2nd.

That would be a start, the problem is we find ourselves in a time where everything that could help us is discouraged.

Unity is the last thing on the Medias agenda.

Education the worst its ever been.

Compromise equals weakness, and Open protest and decent relegated to "free speech zones"

Our politicians are bought and paid for, yet people still wear the label of Democrat or Republican, and think the other side is "right or wrong"

When the whole thing is WRONG, the whole system has been in the wrong for sometime.

There is only one thing we need to agree on, one thing and one thing only.

Those who got us here, will not get us out of it.

There is no need to moralize it.

If everyone keeps voting for the people that have managed to get us to this point, nothing will ever change.

reply to post by Metallicus


Awesome Rant and right on the money.

Divide et impera - the tactical strategy to effectively and efficiently deal with a massive opponent so as to maintain power.

Religion, Politics, Human Rights - keep us looking/fighting/arguing in one direction whilst their true motives are being played out in the other direction.

The global push for consolidation of power into the hands of the few - at the expense of the many. If the people all really knew what was going on in the upper echelons of society - they would see that we are being played like the collective fools we are.

What time does the X-Factor start, where is my ipad, I need to get to the Mall before the sale ends.

reply to post by benrl


This is precisely what I think many Americans feel to some extent and the difference between this and what exists really has created a political void. You know what I'd like to see happen in the 2016 election? A bipartisan Independent ticket of politicians who have common ground on cleaning up the government and the restoration of power to the People, themselves. That would be pretty epic. A girl can dream.

WhiteAlice
reply to post by benrl

 

This is precisely what I think many Americans feel to some extent and the difference between this and what exists really has created a political void. You know what I'd like to see happen in the 2016 election? A bipartisan Independent ticket of politicians who have common ground on cleaning up the government and the restoration of power to the People, themselves. That would be pretty epic. A girl can dream.

If only they had spines that weren't directly tied to their pocket book.


I Think its possible, it won't be My generation, I see that (X) still to slow on the digital.

The millennials though... Theres a group that has less party affiliation, and up on the tech.

I could easily see a "kickstarter" candidate with no Party, taking an election in 10-15 years at least at the house or senate level.

Once the dinosaurs are dead.

reply to post by benrl


I'm pretty certain that it will happen. If things continue on as they have been, there will be more and more disgruntled and disenfranchised people within our country. I've actually got a kind of statistical theory based on how social and political change gets affected. We would essentially represent the first identifiers of a problem (kind of like the first adopters of a new technology/product). As time passes, more will, through the continuance of the status quo, adopt the "new idea" (that isn't really new in this case but hasn't been quite as heavily pushed). There is a momentum and it can be tracked. Think of how many shared these views 4 years ago or 6. It's a slow and steady increase. Once things hit a more critical mass, then adoption of that idea is likely to take place.

!0 to 15 years is probably what it'll take but it could shorten depending on what occurs within our politics and how far people get pushed. And yes, agreed that the dinos growing old and dying will be a factor. In terms of demographics, Baby Boomers outnumber Gen X and Millenials are nearly equal in size to Baby Boomers. Once the Baby Boomers pass from old age, the Millenials will be the majority demographic. The last time there was a high degree of tumultuousness within the US was for the Baby Boomers in the 60's and 70's when they were approximately the same age range of the Millenials. They were largely assimilated although they exerted some force of change upon society. Considering the unemployment statistics and other factors, the majority of the Millenials are not being assimilated. That will come home to roost.