The Hit List
Humans are wired to see everything cognitively in black or white, left or right, right or wrong. But people have this incredible capacity to feel the gray area between the polarized opposites the mind contrives.
Politics illuminates this fascinating dichotomy. In every generation and administration, certain issues rise above all the others and become the center of the nation’s ideological tug of war. Conservatives tend to look at the current issues as always worse than the last generation’s. This helps them rationalize their perspective that morality is on a decline, and individual liberties are dwindling in America. Liberals tend to see present issues as absolutely more urgent for the preservation of the marginalized than ever before. This is their rationalization for their impassioned (and sometimes vitriolic) pursuit of justice.
In no particular order of importance, here are some of the top issues dividing Americans today. I will touch on all of these in future posts, but here’s a very simplified list:
1. Gay Marriage
The Left: It’s a civil liberty that all should have.
The Right: The breakdown of family means the breakdown of society.
The Middle: Allowing someone to legally make choices about his/her life doesn’t equal morally condoning those choices.
2. Abortion
The Left: It’s part of a woman’s body, so it’s her right to choose.
The Right: It’s a separate life, therefore it has it’s own rights.
The Middle: It is a life, and it has rights, but there are some cases of health where this needs to be an option.
3. Legalization of Drugs
The Left: It would be economically profitable, and ensure better regulations for drug use, but it’s bad PR.
The Right: This is immoral and leads to dysfunctional members of society.
The Middle: Again, legalizing someone’s personal choice to harm herself/himself is not the same as morally condoning the behavior.
4. Feminism
The Left: We need to impose ratios in government and business that guarantee a certain number of positions for women.
The Right: It’s just not urgent. And it’s still a little unclear if women can successfully lead in highly pressurized environments.
The Middle: Women’s rights to opportunities should be preserved, but not necessarily forced.
5. Helping the Underprivileged
The Left: Create government initiatives to give people better opportunities.
The Right: Leave it to the non-profits, otherwise people will never learn.
The Middle: Restructure the government initiatives to better filter who receives benefits, and for how long. Distribute as much of the authority to non-profits as possible.
I want to reiterate that these are gross generalizations. For now, just chew on these ideas, and consider where you stand. Though truth exists, we can’t really grasp it in its absolute form. So consider what you believe and why, and we’ll get back to these topics soon.
vérité et de grâce
truth and grace