An Open Letter to my Fellow Americans who use Political Affiliations as Derogatory Terms
Not a day goes by where I do not read a New York Times, Boston Globe, Fox News, etc. story without seeing Facebook comments using terms like "rethuglican" or "libtard" or worse. Sometimes, I just read the word liberal or republican and I can almost taste the distain that commenter has for their fellow American because they happen to disagree with them.
I have news for the people who use those identifications as derogatory terms.
I AM NOT DEFINED BY MY GENERAL POLITICAL AFFILIATION.
I am a person with complex views, thoughts and ideas. I am not my political affiliation. I do not 100% agree with every person in the party I have generally identified with. Nor do I agree with every platform. I am not defined by my vote. My vote is a carefully calculated, educated opinion based on what candidates have said, their voting record, how I believe they will act according to what I consider my most important issues, if I believe they will be viewed positively to other nations in the world and if I believe that all of those things will be enough for me to choose them to represent me. I have a choice in the matter. It may be a small choice and a small vote. But it is my vote nonetheless. But that does not make me who I am.
We, as humans, are extremely complex individuals. We are the most complex species that exists on this planet. Not one person in this nation or on this planet is a clean-cut perfect version of their political party. And they shouldn't be. We are swayed by our opinions, our life experiences, someone who knows someone who knows someone that experienced great tragedy, a touching story you hear as background noise on the TV, or a movie that causes you to second guess everything you ever knew about a subject. We are human. We are complex. Some issues are not as black and white as people make them out to be. There is an entire dimension of gray where people exist. In fact, this nation is in a perpetual state of gray because on many issues, the people of this nation are split almost 50/50.
What bothers me most about the distain that many of each side of the aisle has for the other is that it promotes disrespect and does not lead to meaningful conversation. And this occurrence happens all the way to the top of the theoretical political food chain. I almost think that if we did not have televised debates of our political representatives digging up dirt and ripping each other's heads off, maybe the rest of the American body of people would do the same. But that is extremely naïve of me to dream that a change could even possibly occur, let alone influence others to change.
So, we have lost meaningful conversations between the party's leaders and the American people. We must resort to attacking someone's personal life or calling them "libtards" or "wingnuts" or even schoolyard names like moron and idiot. I see people from other countries posting comments and I am ashamed that they have to read nonsense like that. I am sure they have that "rhetoric" in their country as well. But we are supposed to be the best. The country that everyone strives to be like. But then I go to the clip from The Newsroom, and I think, "That man is right. We are not the greatest country in the world anymore." That is not to say that I would want to live anywhere else. But when the interaction of debate has boiled down to childish name calling, rather than expressing your concerns, I can believe it is true. We cannot find a way to reach a COMPROMISE anymore.
Oh no. I said it. The big bad word that no politician wants to hear. I said the word that no extremists on either side of the aisle would like to hear. I said the word that casts fear in the hearts of every man and woman. I SAID IT.
We as a people no longer know or accept the term COMPROMISE. We are taught that if you fight hard enough and you believe it with ever fiber of your being, then you need to stand up for your believes with unwavering loyalty and do not say die.
But what does that lead to in politics? It leads to many bills dying on the floor. It leads to government shut down. It leads to ineffectiveness. It leads to holding a legislative bill hostage in courts while the American people suffer from anxiety over what this will mean for them. It leads to months and years of uncertainty and chaos for the American people; where their 5-year plan can change at the drop of a hat. It leads to a filibuster lasting 57 DAYS. 57 DAYS that the government was completely ineffective. Is filibustering a useful tool? Maybe. But why not use that time to find a COMPROMISE that allows for both parties to be generally happy with the outcome? When a single person speaks for 24 hours and 18 minutes reciting historical documents, it is an entire day wasted that we could have been solving problems and reaching a COMPROMISE to move on and move forward to other issues that need to be discussed. Because unfortunately, there are many and there will always continue to be many.
We are not, however, just divided politically. We continue to be divided by race, by income, by "North" and "South," by religion, by sex, by sexual preference, by military and civilians, by disabilities, by health, by more things than I can even possibly list.
But that is one of the great and horrible things about living in America. We have the freedom and rights to express ourselves. We do not (generally) go out in the street thinking, I am going to be shot for expressing myself. WE CAN DO THAT IN THIS COUNTRY and that is a beautiful thing. We are not the only one. We are one of many. And that shows how our world can grow.
The horrible thing, however, is that we express ourselves without respect for others. Disagreeing should not equate to disrespect. Once we lose respect for each other, we lose the war for making this world a better world for the next generation.
I love when people disagree with me. I get to learn their story. I get to learn why they feel the way they feel. What has motivated them to come to the conclusion they have over an issue. I get to tell them my views and my concerns and let them know what others have faced.
To win the battle, we need to intellectually listen to others. We need to be educated and informed. We need to have respect for our fellow American. We need to speak in a way that is not derogatory, that there is no distain. Not because it is "politically correct" but because that is how you treat another human being. You want to be spoken to with respect and that is the same right that should be afforded to them. We need to speak to them as individuals, not lumped together as a political party. They are individuals with a view. If that aligns with a party, so be it. But they are not their political affiliation.
I am not my political affiliation.
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