These days, it seems like there is antagonism everywhere you look. Our politicians, local and above, engage in bitter partisan fights. People insult and degrade those who disagree with them. Old customs are being thrown away and discarded in exchange for ramming things through. Many are afraid to even express their opinions in public lest they be shut down. It’s becoming discouraging.
The America I know and have learned about is one that is welcoming of people and ideas, that can work together to solve pressing issues. I’ve seen this attitude in my fellow students, and in many of the people I’ve met throughout my life. That is perhaps why all of this partisanship seems so unreal. Does everyone really hate each other this much?
It would appear so. Go on Twitter and the President of the United States and several opposing accounts trade insults on a daily basis. Democrats are lambasted as “communist” while Republicans are labelled “fascist.” Several times, when opportunities have presented themselves for real reform on issues such as immigration and health care, our two main political parties have stonewalled and refused to budge.
Our nation’s leaders have been increasingly ridiculed and caricatured. Half of the country roots for one person to do well, and the other attacks that person at every turn. Turn on late night television, and you can be sure some nasty joke or insult about the commander in chief or a respected senator will get thrown out there, maybe even by their own colleagues.
Confirming needed officials to conduct the business of the government has turned into a hate fest as well. Don’t like a nominee? It’s easy to run a filibuster in the Senate and launch attacks in the media without proposing an alternative. Supreme Court seats sit empty as parties fight over who gets to put their ideologically-aligned judge into a vacancy.
The Founding Fathers, to a great extent, predicted we would be at odds with each other in this nation. The very reason separation of powers was so important to them was they wanted people, through their own self-interest, to check other people’s self-interest. The argument goes you have an incentive to hold down the powers of the opposite branches of government since your own power would then be threatened.
The problem the Founders may have missed in my opinion, though, is self-interest often turns from a defense of your own territory to a detriment to others. Our politicians have so much self-interest they fail to recognize the common good. There are some things, a good education system, capable military forces, and a stable and growing economy, that should transcend political loyalties. Instead, they only seem to augment them.
Maybe I’m missing something, perhaps I’m too young and idealistic, detached from the cynical realities that emerge as we get older and experience more. I have those moments sometimes too, feeling like nothing will ever really change. Why bother following the political process or putting in your one vote every Election Day? It won’t really make much of a difference.
That’s the real problem: belief. We have to believe we can do something before it gains any effect. If everyone wanted to create a more civil environment, we could. If everyone wanted to vote in representatives and presidents who would work with each other, we could make it happen. We’re the state that had it happen once before too. Jesse Ventura would have never been able to win as governor of a third party if people hadn’t believed he could win.
So how this country, and our county, works and in what kind of environment is up to us. We don’t have to support all of this bitterness. We don’t have to support the partisan warring by tuning into divisive broadcasts and social media posts. We have the choice to create a better social and political environment. In the end, we are all human, with our own beliefs, experiences and faults. Let’s try to remember that.
Connor Kockler is a Sauk Rapids-Rice High School student. He enjoys writing, politics and news, among other interests.
