Tearing Each Other Apart
As I listened to parts of the recent Republican and Democratic conventions, I was dismayed by the violent rhetoric that permeated most of the speeches. It seemed that each speaker was trying to prove their prowess as a leader by how forcefully they could vilify the other side.
All this proved to me is that they are blindly stuck in the ego-trance of “us against them”. This polarizing paradigm frames our world in terms of good and evil. Fighting against the perceived evil energizes and breathes life into the ego, and somehow proves that we are right and good.
This approach to politics makes us feel powerful, motivates us, and gives us a burst of energy. However, it also destroys the integrity of our society. It may feed our ego, but it undermines our connection to each other and disables us from working together cooperatively as a nation.
It is absurd to hear leaders who want our respect and trust treat each other this way. I don’t want to hear their judgements and criticisms of the other side. It is like listening to children constantly blaming and taunting each other. A leader who tries to get my attention by degrading their opponent loses my respect and trust.
When the election is over and one side has won the office of President, that person will be the leader of our nation. They will be responsible for uniting us and helping us to work together for the good of the whole.
Demonizing the other side undermines this process and cripples us all. The result is a fractured, weaker nation, not a stronger, united one.
Grown Up Politics
A wiser and more mature approach would be to articulate what each side stands for. In the end we are voting for the direction that we want our country to go in. And the candidates who want to lead us could be telling us about that. They could focus on their key differences and tell us why their approach is better, without demeaning the character of the other side.
I want to hear how each leader sees our nation, and the world, and how they want to make it better. I want them to inspire and lead us in addressing our challenges.
I would like to hear the conservative Republican party’s concerns about too many immigrants flooding into our country and making it more difficult for working class US citizens. I would like them to make a case for how to protect the livelihoods of our current citizens before opening our doors to newcomers.
I want to hear what role they see for new arrivals in the US work force and economy, and how they would realistically deal with the undocumented immigrants who are in our country now. I want to know what practical steps they would take to achieve their vision.
I also want to hear how the liberal Democratic Party would handle the practical issues of immigration. How would they protect the livelihoods of our current citizens, and welcome new immigrants? How would they manage immigration so that it is good for our country, as wells as beneficial for the new arrivals?
I want to hear each side make a case for their vision, without making the other side wrong. We, the people, are the ones who decide which direction we take. We need leaders who can help us to create common goals, and then work together to realize them.
Stay tuned for part two of this series "Leadership That Enables Us to Work Together" coming in mid-October 2024.
留言