Election year is fast approaching, meaning that one of America’s favorite pastimes will be back in full force — the time-honored tradition of mudslinging.
As any up-to-date American might gather by following the news on TV or social media:
The other side is made up of the worst people yet to walk the earth. Democrats are evil communists whose exploits would make Stalin blush, while Republicans are fascist monsters who grind orphans into paste. Things are worse than they have ever been — worse than the Civil War or Great Depression —and the very fabric of American society is unraveling before our eyes because that guy over there does not agree with me.
Of course, none of that is true. It would be wrong to say that everything is fine. Political tensions are certainly running high, perhaps even the highest they have been in decades. Yet a cool head and a quick look at history always serve to reveal that, all things considered, we are in pretty good shape. There has been no second Civil War, and even an economic crisis caused by a global pandemic came nowhere close to the depths of the Great Depression.
So why do people seem convinced that things are so uniquely terrible? Part of it is simply humanity’s short memory. Who cares for the past? What is happening right now is much more important.
Most of it comes from the severe political polarization of today. It is us versus them. The other side of the aisle is our sworn enemy. They seek to destroy everything we love, and there can be no compromise with the likes of them. The truth is, this mindset is likely doing more damage to our nation than is the party with which one might disagree.
As it turns out, those who have a different political opinion from you are not monsters out of a storybook bent on destroying the American way of life just because they want to watch the world burn. They are people — nothing more, nothing less.
They all share the same basic desires that you do. They want to be respected; they want to have a roof over their head and food in their belly; they want to be able to take care of the ones they love; and they want to live their lives the way they see fit. The only difference between them and you is the paths you each follow to reach those goals.
We are all free to have disagreements over the paths we want to take, and that is the beauty of democracy. Demonizing the opposition does nothing but help the people who are already in power stay there. It prevents us from looking at problems from different perspectives and applying nuance. It plays into our confirmation bias, leading us to blame our problems on the “enemy” rather than their real causes or even to invent problems where there are none.
Things are not the worst they have ever been, but democracy always requires protection and upkeep. Polarization and demonization of the political opposition is not how you save democracy — it is how you destroy it. The only thing that is going to fix the very real problems we face are level-headed and well-informed citizens willing to compromise to get the things that all people want.
Common advice is to not second-guess yourself, but in 2024, you should do exactly that. Do not just accept that rage-inducing headline; dig deeper, and see if it leaves out a crucial bit of context. Place yourself in the shoes of the other side, and figure out why they think the way they do, remembering that they want to see this state and this country get better, just like you do. Try getting your news from different sources to break yourself out of any echo chambers into which you may have unknowingly fallen, and listen to the arguments made by political opponents without dismissing them out of hand.
It is clear to see that the upcoming election year is going to be a messy one. There is going to be fearmongering, disinformation and conspiracy theories like we have all come to expect. Do not buy it. Keep your head above the mud, and focus on real, practical improvements, not whatever newest outrage has been cooked up to distract you.
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