FFs.
Extremism eventually leads to lawlessness, disrespect for the Constitution, for national security, for American institutions, and collapse of basic values that hold our society together. It leads to masses willing to put a man like Donald Trump into office just because it is a way of saying F You to the other side. It leads to willingness to collude with foreign powers because they seem like less of a threat than fellow Americans on the other side of the partisan divide. Communism on the left begets Nazis on the right. It raises the stakes of every election to the point where the amount of time, stress, and energy spent on elections and pointless controversies grows more than ever. It creates a judiciary that is nothing more than another unaccountable lawmaking body. It leads to a disrespect for facts, truth, and science. It discredits the United States and its system of government in the eyes of the world. Is this good for America?
An ever-escalating slide into extremism should frighten any American, but it particularly frightens me as an ethnic minority. Although I have strongly criticized Barack Obama over the years, I also strongly understand why he
said this. He and many other minorities have always instinctively understood that we are not going to win a civil war. Whenever there has been violence in American history, minorities have come out on the losing end. We are not the ones with the guns, and never will be. Our only hope is to find compact with our fellow citizens. Tragically Mr. Obama came into office at a time when populism was needed, so his message of compromise was not right for his time. But it is ironically right for
this time, just when it is absent and Obama is spent.
Obama also understood, as a Democrat, that Democratic economic and social programs like Health Care, and Social Security, only work in a cohesive society that is somewhat tightly-knit. It does not work in a country where people hate each other. Then, even liberals who are supposedly committed to health care, will cheer when a West Virginia coal miner loses his, simply because the liberal hates him so much. A social democratic economic model only works in a country with some common identity.
I hope to live to see a day when politics are no longer fought over fundamental things that ignite such emotion, in people, over moral absolutes. Where the stakes of elections are not so high. Where an election will move things a little left, or a little right, but basic, fundamental values are not seen to be at stake by the masses. Where when a president does a bad job, Republicans as well as Democrats disapprove, and when she does a good job, both approve. Where people don't feel the need to lie to pollsters about the state of the economy. In such a world, I will no longer have to care about politics. I can spend more time with my back turned, to grow my other interests and hobbies, without worrying that basic values I hold dear will be violated simply because of the result of an election. The denigration of moderation that began with Barry Goldwater was a mistake. Particularly in the past 25 years, rising polarization has led us in the wrong direction. This ought to be clear by now.
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