Let’s Get Beyond the Political Clichés
When people argue over politics, the arguments usually eventually always come down to the same cliché positions that puts you either on the side that “government is necessary” or “government should not intrude.”
The pro-government people defend their idealistic view that government can efficiently provide services and opportunities to the less fortunate in order to level the playing field.
At the same time, the anti-government people focus on their idealistic vision that self-regulation and personal responsibility is their cure-all for society’s ills.
Pro-government advocates, just like their anti-government counterparts, generally don’t ever acknowledge that any inefficiencies, flaws, or limitations exist within the system they believe in.
In reality, does either system alone really function ideally? Don’t we probably really need a blend of both?
Absolutes of “all of one” and “none of the other” just doesn’t seem to be the way reality works. We hear more and more about irrational consumer behavior and the need for practical application of economic theories. Academic textbook theories just don’t play out that way in real life.
I guess it would be equally idealistic of me to hope that someday we might see each side acknowledging the merits of the other to the degree that we can almost no longer tell which side someone is on.
But then again, if arguments didn’t have sides or didn’t end with clear winners and losers, wouldn’t that make the news rather uninteresting then?
I’m hoping that news outlets (traditional and/or new media) can work towards finding a way to generate interest in a more productive dialogue than just 30-second sound bites. Or maybe a grassroots effort is where a solution is more likely to be born? I don’t know.
Either way, it seems we are at the point of figuring out ”when” and “how” public political debate should change. I’d say we’re way beyond questioning ”if” they should change.
What about you? What do you think it will take for some of the current public political discourse to rise above the level of pointless schoolyard squabble?
