Can't we all just get along?
I mean really?
I realised something sad about the election the other night, talking with my coworkers. As a cynic, of course, it's my position that no matter who is elected we won't see any real change, or any radical new policies--in other words that 2012 will look essentially like 2008, except for the part about the world ending.
To a degree, I still hold that this is highly likely to be true. But I've noticed something else, from both sides of the aisle--I hear it more from the liberal end, of course, because I work in San Francisco and my coworkers are democrats, but it's clear enough in the discourse from the other side, too.
What it amounts to is a sort of rabid partisanism. One of the most striking examples for me surrounded Gov. Palin's speech at the convention. My conservative friends--and conservative pundits--hailed both the speech and the speaker. My liberal friends, however, not only disagreed with the content of the speech but thought that it wasn't even a very good one.
This is I think one of the more troubling aspects of the widening gulf between people when it comes to politics, and the sectarian factionalism that is rising up about it. No matter who takes office in January, not only will half of the country not have voted for him, but that half will be completely at a loss to explain how anyone could have.
There is a failing among Republicans, I think, to understand how anyone could possibly be swayed by Obama's cheap rhetoric and fancy talking with nothing to back him up. And so anyone who votes for him must either be blindly partisan straight-ticket Democrats anyway, or duped, Hitler-style, by his suave demeanour.
But there is a corresponding failure among Democrats to understand how anyone could possibly be swayed by in particular Palin's facile demagogic appeals to emotions and simplicity. And so anyone who votes for the McCain ticket must either be blindly partisan straight-ticket Republicans, or simple-minded peasant folk who simply don't know any better.
There seems to be what I might term an inherent presumption of disingenuousness, and the abject refusal to believe that anyone on the other side is casting their votes genuinely (or, if they are, that they can be respected for doing so). I have been guilty of this myself.
Which is sad, really, because this is itself a fascinating campaign with compelling candidates, and it unfortunately gives the lie a bit to the idea that politics was moving forward in some way.
Ah well. Politics takes a back seat; Spore is out.
/a
To a degree, I still hold that this is highly likely to be true. But I've noticed something else, from both sides of the aisle--I hear it more from the liberal end, of course, because I work in San Francisco and my coworkers are democrats, but it's clear enough in the discourse from the other side, too.
What it amounts to is a sort of rabid partisanism. One of the most striking examples for me surrounded Gov. Palin's speech at the convention. My conservative friends--and conservative pundits--hailed both the speech and the speaker. My liberal friends, however, not only disagreed with the content of the speech but thought that it wasn't even a very good one.
This is I think one of the more troubling aspects of the widening gulf between people when it comes to politics, and the sectarian factionalism that is rising up about it. No matter who takes office in January, not only will half of the country not have voted for him, but that half will be completely at a loss to explain how anyone could have.
There is a failing among Republicans, I think, to understand how anyone could possibly be swayed by Obama's cheap rhetoric and fancy talking with nothing to back him up. And so anyone who votes for him must either be blindly partisan straight-ticket Democrats anyway, or duped, Hitler-style, by his suave demeanour.
But there is a corresponding failure among Democrats to understand how anyone could possibly be swayed by in particular Palin's facile demagogic appeals to emotions and simplicity. And so anyone who votes for the McCain ticket must either be blindly partisan straight-ticket Republicans, or simple-minded peasant folk who simply don't know any better.
There seems to be what I might term an inherent presumption of disingenuousness, and the abject refusal to believe that anyone on the other side is casting their votes genuinely (or, if they are, that they can be respected for doing so). I have been guilty of this myself.
Which is sad, really, because this is itself a fascinating campaign with compelling candidates, and it unfortunately gives the lie a bit to the idea that politics was moving forward in some way.
Ah well. Politics takes a back seat; Spore is out.
/a
| La Chevre 11.09.2008 - 8h54 |
So you thought Palin's speech was good, then? Really? But it was poorly delivered and poorly written. And, if I may remind you, I was a supporter of Mitt Romney before he became Conservatron 4000. But is that it for you? I mean, is there something about Palin's policies or character that appeals to you? As your only clamoring reader I want to know, damn it. |
| Comrade Alex 11.09.2008 - 9h45 |
I didn't say that. I haven't made up my mind yet, entirely. My point really is just that there is this rift between the two sides that is looking... perplexingly insurmountable. In this sense, it is like the divide between militant atheists and militant Christians. It goes beyond simple disagreement into a realm where you simply can't understand how anyone (who doesn't agree with you, that is) could behave so foolishly, and that as a result they can't actually believe what they say. I think it's destructive, but... I don't have a real position yet. -CA |
| The Other Clamoring Reader 11.09.2008 - 10h01 |
Now now, just because you're basically the only one who posts responses doesn't mean you're the only reader or the only one who cares. It's worth noting one error in your cynical logic. You claim the only difference between 2008 and 2012 is that the world will end in the latter. But do you already forget the intense hype of how the LHC, which turned on in 2008, is already costing us lives and will end us all?! |
| bersl2 12.09.2008 - 9h10 |
The mirage of political parties; confirmation bias; the over-success of appeal to authority; the awful behaviors required to succeed in politics at the national level, sufficiently distant and large enough to allow easy access by the People... I don't really have much more of a thought on the subject than that. I'm not even sure all of that makes sense or is non-redundant or self-consistent. |
| La Chevre 13.09.2008 - 6h18 |
Whoa, bersl, do you frequent XKCD's forums too? I think I've seen you there. |
| bersl2 15.09.2008 - 12h43 |
No, I do not frequent that forum; I posted there for "Aversion Fad", and that's it for the most part. |
| La Chevre 16.09.2008 - 10h40 |
Ah, shoot. I don't really frequent it either. I just play the games with the 12 year olds and such. |