Moving Past the Trump Era
When I think of what stands between Left and Right in the U.S my first thought is not a set of differing political opinions. Instead, I think of the hatred between the two sides, the twitter feuds, misinformation, trolling, conspiracy theories, and clashes between protestors. I think of a right which cannot stand the anti-free speech, America-hating snowflakes on the left, and a left which detests the racist, uneducated, insane people on the right.
The problem this raises for democracy is obvious: it is impossible to sit two people down for a discussion of how best to proceed in tackling a political problem when both parties are convinced that the views of the other side are dangerous, fundamentally immoral, come from a place of hatred for the nation, or arise out of a false sense of superiority, or simply out of stupidity. This is not to say that there are no bad ideas, only that when this becomes our default image of a person with opposing views ‘political discussions’ become an exercise in proving other people stupid, dangerous, immoral, etc. A stable democracy is very difficult to maintain under these terms, and people will never be convinced to change their minds simply by being told that they are dangerous idiots.
So how do we move on from our current state? It is tempting to think that we slowly drifted into this current state and so similar forces will see us drift out. On the contrary, it took a lot of work to get us here, and it will take even more to get us out.
Thankfully, it begins at the individual level. There is something we can all do, which would make a massive difference: abandon the idea that people with opposing political views are enemies, and rethink the end-goal of our political interactions. You do not have to find common ground with every individual you speak to. You do not have to convince or be convinced. You do not need to arrive at definitive conclusions or gain concession. Democracies will be well served if those who currently spend their time virtually shouting at each other in YouTube comment sections begin to think of political interactions as an opportunity to teach and learn a new perspective.
At the moment much of the dialogue that takes place between those on the left and right may just as well be between people speaking different languages. They certainly seem, more often than not, to be interactions between people using completely different methods for understanding the world around them. Fostering an environment in which people make the effort to understand each other, even if maintaining disagreement, is the first step towards making political interactions practical and useful. This kind of shift in thinking is hard, and will be impossible when speaking to certain people, but if enough of us make it a habit we will be able to move on from the exhausting state that has characterised the Trump Era.
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