It is a strange place we find ourselves in 2020: pandemic, presidential election, social discourse, fill in-the-blank-here.
I try to find hope in looking for political leadership that can help us through this but dare I speak a civil tone to my friends about options and opportunities and the conversation inevitably comes back to two names which leaves me perplexed.
In vomitus tradition, the congress each year reads the farewell address of George Washington, wherein, among other things, Washington railed against the idea of parties in politics. This, in 1796, no less.
If we destroy the two-party system, I am not naïve enough to think other parties won’t fill the vacuum. But maybe having 10 or 20 parties, where compromise, coalition building, and where sunshine policies rule the day can be, and should be, a welcome change to the current system. While this writing might portend to change to federalism, I submit we need to fight to keep federalism alive, as the regionality that this country was built on is one of its greatest strengths. However, our choice cannot be confined to simple definitions of left/right, liberal/conservative, black/ white, but the system has tried extremely hard to make it so. We reinforce this confinement by watching only our favorite news channels or listening only to our favorite podcast/ radio shows. By not going out of the way to listen to the plight or argument of others we cinch the noose a little more tightly around our own necks. We are forfeiting our political rights by standing firmly in one political party’s camp.
Never give up on this experiment we call democracy. It cannot be won by simply purchasing a yard sign, or flag, or yelling across the bar in the local pub because the other guy raises a question that does not fit into your defined worldviews. Less yelling, less in-your-face sound bites and more listening, more educating. It is time to put the armchair quarterbacking aside and demand something better for our children, for our future. If your choices leave you so bitter in conversation, then maybe it’s time for some self-reflection. As Americans, we all deserve better than where we find ourselves at this moment in history.
Richard Saunders, Cook
County
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