I am a partisan. That is not a state secret. I chair the Democratic Party in Kenton County.
Our political system has been predicated on partisanship since John Adams and Thomas Jefferson squared off for the Presidency in 1800. Our nation has benefited greatly throughout our history from the vigorous investigation of issues and conflicts that partisanship generates.
But today, our debate has become acrimonious noise – a clashing of beliefs, perceptions, and conclusions, in the high-tech stratosphere of public opinion a la social media and the mainstream media, that seem never to meet much less come to consensus.
Simply put: people are getting their messages out, loudly and frequently, but the people to whom they are directed are not listening. At least to them.
We talk easily and much to those who agree with us, who share our beliefs and our perceptions. Along with our distortions and prejudices.
Col Owens
Partisanship – effective partisanship – has depended historically on communication, which in turn depends on conversation, discussion, dialogue – people not only speaking, saying what they believe to be true, but also listening, being willing to accord others personhood and respect as fellow actors in our system of self-government. It means to take their views seriously, to consider their merits, whether they reflect known facts. It depends on rational thought.
Listening requires getting beyond the other’s identity, or status, to consider the substance. It means suspending our skepticism, and the distrust, even abhorrence, that we may feel, in order to engage.
This is not a novel observation, nor is it a partisan one. People across the political spectrum are voicing their frustration. They want not only to exercise their constitutional right to speak. They want to be heard.
But there is a deeper reality, that is not so widely recognized or acknowledged.
Almost all of us, regardless of where we sit on that political spectrum, share a set of very basic values: justice, fairness, liberty and equality, and compassion.
None of us owns these values exclusively. They belong to all of us, as they transcend all of us. We all – left, right, center – pursue them as best we are able, with the gifts and capacities available to us. We all, in our innermost selves, believe we are pursuing and speaking truth.
It is as hard for me to perceive and believe this as it is for anybody. As noted at the outset, I am a partisan. But I try – sometimes having to force myself to try – to listen, as I watch and/or read, and to remind myself that no matter what I think about the words and thoughts, or their author, they deserve thoughtful consideration.
The growing polarization of our news industry only compounds the problem. I don’t watch FOX News much. It’s too uncomfortable. It’s much easier for me to watch CNN and MSNBC. But as I watch and listen to their guests, especially those whose views I find untruthful, irrational, or deeply offensive, I remind myself that the only way forward is to dispute their points with counterpoints, to try to move to resolution.
Facebook presents a similar but even more intense challenge. It brings quite literally to our fingertips, in a very personal way, a daily deluge of information, pseudo-information, and opinion which is made very easy to respond to. This is both a benefit and a burden. It generates the desire to respond, which is good – it inspires point–counterpoint – but often in a not very thought-out way. Coupled with trolling, the result is all-too-often the outpouring of stuff, met with an equal but opposite outpouring of stuff, with not very much communication having occurred.
Dialectic – dialogue – is the only way forward. Talking and listening.
Difficult? Yes. Sometimes painful. But essential.
We need to recover genuine debate in our country. We need to re-learn how to “person” others. It is our only path to restoration of a healthier and more effective political process.
Col Owens is a retired Ft. Mitchel attorney and chair of the Kenton County Democratic Party.
Typical of Mr. Owen’s drivel and symptomatic of the “Let’s all be nice” garbage that allows stabs in the back by the rrthuglicsns. Dems talk about it; meanwhile the re-thugs stiff 23 million on health care, vets suffer and our highways are Creek beds. Stop handwringers, do something.