COMMENTARY: What has happened to us as a nation? The 2016 presidential election created a massive divide among the citizens in our nation, amongst politicians in both the House and the Senate in Washington, and communities all across the country.
It was, by far, one of the worst political divides I’ve seen in my lifetime. We watched as what political party you were, who you were voting for, and what political ideology you believed in pitted neighbor against neighbor. It spilt our nation down the middle. It was hoped that would simmer down after the 2016 presidential election, but did it?
Following the election, things seemed to go back to normal. We moved into 2017 smoothly, but it wasn’t long before the divide showed its ugly face yet again. We watched massive protests at newly elected President Donald Trump’s inauguration. We watched “not my president” protests spread across the country, and we instantly saw the partisan divide in Congress.
Courtesy photo
Stephen Despin
This overflowed into the lives of individuals and communities across our entire country. In today’s political environment one side seems to hate the other and we’ve found ourselves in a political ideological war. What does that mean for you, me and our friends and family? What does that mean for our country, policy and progress?
This divide doesn’t really benefit anyone. It harms us all in many different ways. We’ve lost the ability to civilly communicate with each other. We need to be able to look at things from the other side. We don’t have to always agree, but we should be able to see it from their point of view as well. They believe what they believe for a reason, they have emotion and feelings connected with that reason. If we want to move forward with positive conversation and unity, then working together is how we get growth.
No political ideology is going to always be correct 100 percent of the time. We learn from each other. In order to do that, we need to be able to build relationships, not barriers. When we build enemies rather than friends, we’re creating barriers for progress. This is where the idea of freedom and liberty becomes so strong, so important, and the principles our nation was founded upon.
We should feel comfortable discussing our political opinions with others. We shouldn’t feel as though if we talk about politics there will be an argument. Communication and building relationships is a key component to progress and growth.
We don’t have to agree on everything. We don’t have to work together on everything. Why shouldn’t we work together when we do agree?
This is where the divide gets counterproductive. We should be able to work together when we agree, regardless of whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, independent, conservative or liberal. Working with anyone for good and no one for bad is the most effective strategy to creating change. We should be able to have bipartisan support on the issues when we agree. How can we get back to this?
We need to remember that people are people, not just the political ideology they believe. All of us have lives, families, friends, hardships and joy. We work, pay bills and go to school. Some of us have children, and we’re all trying to live life the best we can and to create the change we wish to see in the world.
That’s the beauty of a free country, a representative government, a constitutional republic. We don’t have to always agree, but there will be some areas and some issues on which we do agree. We can work together there. We can work together, we can create change, and there can be a sense of unity.
We must build better relationships. We must take part in our communities and break away from social media, where it’s easy to fall victim to irrational arguing and Facebook feuds. We need to start having more face-to-face interaction, to get to know our neighbors, and stop letting our government pit us against each other.
If we’re fighting each other, we can’t fight tyranny. Most of us can agree that cronyism and corporate welfare is bad. All of us want to work toward eliminating corruption. We all want to have a better economy, more job creation, and a more prosperous nation. Whenever you have big government you get these negatives, these poor policies and bad representation. This is why there’s a strong argument that moving more toward freedom and liberty, and returning more rights to states rather than more in the hands of a federal government, is a good thing.
What may be good for one state may not be good for another. We have different economies; we have different ideals and cultures. Politics is local and works best if kept that way. The people know more of what’s best for their communities than the federal government does.
Get involved in your community, get to know your neighbors, and attend local city council meetings. Get to know your city councilors, write them emails, a letter, give their office a call. You can build relationships with their staff, get to know them, and open communication. Make sure to find where you align and don’t align with your city councilors. When they’re doing something you agree with, support them; oppose them when you don’t.
Stand firm on your principles, but do so respectfully and you’ll earn respect from those councilors. They’ll be more likely to listen to you if you gain their respect.
Do the same with your county commissioners, state representatives and state senators. Stay involved and current in what’s going on in your city/town, county and state. You don’t have to be a political guru but stay up-to-date with where you align with which elected officials and on what issues. This is where you can have the most impact, the most change, and impact your community in a positive way.
The more we get back our sense of community, the better we can succeed with community-driven solutions rather than big-government solutions. These are positive things, build friendships, and bring positive progress. Together we can build strong communities, stronger states, and breed creativity, innovation, growth and prosperity. First, to accomplish this, we must be able to civilly communicate.
Our lives can be happier, our neighborhoods stronger, and our communities safer if we begin to build real relationships. If we work together toward a better tomorrow. If we focus on each other today.
Together we’re strong but divided we’re weak. Let’s not allow big government to keep us divided, to keep us weak, and keep us scrambling any more. Let’s work together as happy warriors to build the framework for a free and open society. Let’s begin to look for our similarities rather than our differences.
If we begin to do these things, we move toward a better future, more prosperity and calmer lives. Let’s move past the divide and work together. Let’s be the change we want to see. Will you join me on this path toward a better tomorrow?
Stephen Despin is an entrepreneur, political activist and grassroots mobilizer living in Albuquerque. He believes in working toward building the framework for a free and open society and the power of community-driven solutions. Agree with his opinion? Disagree? NMPolitics.net welcomes your views. Learn about submitting your own commentary here.