Sweet! A discussion on politics! Finally!

A friend of mine pointed me to a disc golf website forum where a Canadian man was foolish enough to mention Public healthcare. The original post was something like: "We have public healthcare in Canada. I say go for it." The gloves came off and the punches started getting thrown. It's the type of inflammatory back and forth we have grown accustomed to on the internet. I finally got to say something I was planning on saving for this blog.

One point I forgot to bring up here. Apparently, people are being told they are racists because they do not support President Obama. I haven't seen it in action but it is really offfensive. It's just like when I was told that my not supporting the war meant I do not support our troops. It's terrible that we are willing to make such accusations against those that we do not agree with.

Here's the post:

Looks like we've opened a can of worms, haven't we? I know Jeff in real life and he's a good guy. I've learned a lot from him and would vouch for him any day. He, quite simply, is one of the best people I know. I also know Jeff is extremely hot-headed. He just has this incredible hulk side in him. Someone says healthcare and he says "Hulk get mad." Killswitch. Click.


What is happening here is something he and I have talked about a lot: How we debate. I have grown frustrated with the way Americans approach each other and others. We can't seem to talk about these things as though we weren't suddenly witnessing the opening moments of a football game or monster truck rally.


When Boom Boom makes his original post, it sounds to me like "Oh, you're considering eating at that restaurant? I've eaten there, it's great." Someone who doubts this assertion might say "Very good, but I'm concerned about the calories the cake contains." An even more skeptical person might say "Yes, but did you look at the ingredients? They put puppies in that cake. Only the sweetest puppies." Instead, the response to "Here's my experience." Is "What are you? Stupid? Are you a bad person?"


What's worse is that Boom Boom is relating a personal experience or even a collective experience that he, no doubt, has discussed with other Canadians. The response to this personal experience is "What you say is wrong because I am convinced of it." Words like "socialist agenda" and "Marxist" and "nazi" start getting thrown around. They have become a tool used as an attempt to make people feel wrong in supporting the things they do. The real meaning behind these words is cheapened in the process.


Now, I'm not saying I disagree with Jeff, or TwoPutt or any of the others. I also have concerns with the healthcare bill. Namely, that it is so big. It's too much to take into consideration for a single bill. The equivalent of starting a new garden by pulling all of the grass in your back yard up without any consideration for what it will cost, how much effort it will take and what you intend to do with that cost and effort now that you have this wonderful dirt canvass.


Now, I went to art school and hung out in coffee shops. I have come here from a "liberal" crowd. When George W. Bush sent us to war we felt disenfranchised and we lashed out using the same abrasive rhetoric we see coming from the "conservative" crowd. "This person I have deemed as 'bad' is ruining our country and his supporters are unknowingly engaged in our downfall because they are blind to the facts." These statements are usually supported by statistics, eye-witness accounts and historical data. If you put the time into it, you can usually find statistics, eye-witness accounts and historical figures that debunk all of these claims.


Now, I live in Alabama and work for the United States Army. This crowd is slightly different and I have gotten to witness the other end of it. Now I'm the bad guy. Now I don't know what I'm talking about. Then you realize that the people saying this aren't "Blind to the facts" or "uncaring" or, least of all, "stupid". I've really had to rethink my math. I'm not saying that I agree with everyone. I'm saying that I haven't met anyone that seems to be pushing an "evil master plan." The only people I have met have been real people with real concerns for the welfare of their friend, their family and their country. Good. People.


We have to get away from the devices we use in place of the possibility that we may empathize with someone who disagrees with us. This is the only way toward progress. Our current methods result to little more than an intellectual ego trip. "I am going to insult you into submission. Those who are undecided will see that I am stronger. Those who agree with me will be reinforced by the strong words and the loud voice. Those who disagree will be ashamed. Look at my fury. Look how outrageous it makes me." It simply does not work.


Our politicians can continue to fail in taking any sort of real action on our behalf. All they have to do is get elected. All they have to do to get elected is say what they want us to hear. When they get in office, decisions will typically continue to be made according to what party has the most people. We will go nowhere or worse. The lines will certainly grow more divided. Who knows.


This isn't me saying we have to all agree. This is me saying that there is such a thing as compromise and this is how it's done.


I say all of this as someone full of flaws. I have committed every wrong you see above and worse. Much, much, worse. Listen carefully: I am not excluding myself when I say "we".