I literally just posted, but reading the previous post got me thinking. On November 2, the people spoke. Some people were excited, some people were not. I majored in political science, and think of myself as a pretty knowledgeable fella when it comes to that kind of stuff. However, because of 24 hour news networks (an issue I won't go into here now. Perhaps another post), I HATE politics. And that saddens me. However, I feel I've got enough gas left in the tank to lecture you, the reader. In my final semester of college, I took a class called Political Psychology (a real hoot, believe me) in which we were required to submit a 20 page paper (what the professor believed should be a good START to a decent research paper). I chose to write about the polarization of the United States. Without boring you to death with the details (I shaved it down to about 22 pages in the end, I believe), my thesis was more or less that our Great Nation was becoming increasingly polarized which would ultimately shut out any hope for "main street America" having any voice in our government. My contention was that it was years down the road, but, for whatever reason (...ahem...24 hour news), this great polarization is happening now. Both sides have a list of demands and refuse to negotiate, and the regular ol' American voters are the ones being held hostage. The previous post made me think of this, so allow me to explain: As I said, the military represents what is great about this nation: all different types of people from all different walks of life working together for a common goal. Why can't we translate this into our everyday lives and our government? They say you don't talk religion or politics amongst friends, but why can't we remain passionate, yet still work together for the common good? When you boil it down (philisophically), we all want essentially the same thing: the greatest good at the lowest cost. As we continue to drive the wedge in between these roads to what's best for our nation, compromise will get harder and harder, which, in turn, will create much larger problems for our nation.
Just something to think about before we get back into war stories and whatnot.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteYesterday on KERA, Kris Boyd had Harvard prof. Robert Putnam talking about his new book in the context of religion, politics and national well-being wherein they talked about exactly the issue you bring up above. It was an interesting talk, especially when he said his research shows more tolerance amongst differing religions than among differing political ideologies.
ReplyDelete