Economic inflation and political deflection are at record highs. The Nation learned today that some Republican / conservative members of Congress proactively sought presidential pardons for their involvement in federal crimes trying to keep Trump in power after the losing the 2020 presidential elections.
These politicians will not accept any guilt whatsoever, and will not be abandoned by their core supporters. These pardon seekers will allege that they sought pardons knowing that the evil Democrats would "fabricate" charges against them. Their MAGA supporters will not believe them, of course, but will support them anyways.
Many liberals can't understand conservatives, and vice versa. For example, many liberals or progressives have a hard time understanding how conservatives can say that they would vote for Trump even after knowing what Trump did after losing the 2020 presidential elections; or how they can support these pardon seekers. Conservatives, on the other hand, have a hard time understanding how liberals can support Biden when dead animal meat prices and climate changing gasoline prices are relatively high. This phenomenon is easy to understand.
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Conservatives believe that liberals are destroying America. Therefore, conservatives would rather vote for Trump than for any Democrat. Liberals believe that conservatives would destroy our future by forcing us into the past. Each side sees the other as the biggest threat to their perceived wellbeing. Each side sees the other as bringing pain into their lives and curtailing pleasure.
Some conservatives would vote for Trump, Putin, Hitler reincarnated, a chimp, an AI bot, or whoever else over voting for Biden, or for any other Democrat. This is because in their perspective, any conservative Republican would be better for the Nation than a liberal Democrat. The same applies to liberals in the opposite direction. It's really that simple.
American politics is a zero sum game
Why are we so polarized? Our political system is designed as a zero sum game. Winners take it all. Whoever wins, even if by the tiniest margin, wins it all. There is no proportionality. If you lose by 1%, you don't have 1% less power, you have 100% less power. If you get 45% of the vote, and an opponent gets 45.001%, you don't get 45% of the power, you get zero.
Our system is the best that our Founding Fathers cold come up with in their days. Chances are that we could develop a better system today. Perhaps future generations can design a system allowing for the proportional sharing of power. Rather than concentrating all powers of the executive branch on one human, for example, executive power could be shared by many people in a group or council presiding over the executive power.
Polarization
It is super risky to grant too much power to an individual. Our Constitutional balance of power is based on having three separate branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial) that in theory can operate as checks and balances on the other. That is better than all powers concentrated in one body, but could be improved in the future by making the power of elected officials more representative and proportional.
In the meantime, we are stuck with the current zero sum system that brings extreme political polarization. Since winners take it all, and losers lose it all, each side is incentivized to never compromise or concede points to the other. The easiest way to avoid compromising or conceding points to the other side is by nominating candidates as far as possible ideologically from the incumbents in power. That strategy guarantees that your candidate will never ever compromise or concede to the other side. The strategy brings the extreme ideological polarization that we see today, and that perhaps has always existed in our Nation.
Conservative vs Progressive
It's almost impossible to reconcile conservative and progressive views. Conservatives stand for tradition (the past). Progressives stand for change (the future). The views seem to collide in everything from super individual issues such as gender identity to super global issues such as climate change.
Since winners take it all in our political system, there is no incentive to compromise. If one side goes left, the other rushes right, and vice versa. That's how the French developed the whole "left" vs "right" distinction. Legislators in favor of a proposal for change would stand left, and legislators against the change would stand right, or vice versa.
Diversity of thought
People are entitled to their own beliefs. Whether we agree or disagree with them, people are entitled to their own thinking. That is part of diversity of thought. Diversity is the best strategy to tackle the problems of today and tomorrow. By leveraging the talents and ideas of everyone, even if we disagree with them, we build a better world for all of us.
Imagine that you find a magic weapon that could eliminate your enemies without the risk of having them eliminate you. You would think that such a weapon would help you. In the end, any such weapon would eventually destroy you. Even your friends will become your enemies as they try to get that magic weapon for you. As you keep eliminating everyone from the game, sooner or later, you will find yourself alone and unable to survive. We need others to survive, even if we disagree with them.
The show will go on.
Let conservatives be conservative. Let Trump be Trump. Let pardon seekers explain their way out in court. Follow the crimes, indict, and prosecute as appropriate. Even if convicted, all these people will be quickly pardoned by the next Republican president in the White House. That will be part of the 2024 campaign promises. Such is life and such is politics.
Food for thought. What do you think?
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