C_Clayton_Jones
Diamond Member
.
This board can provide an excellent microcosm of what has happened, what is happening, to this country: Once an issue --any issue -- becomes politicized, chances that we'll be able to work together to fix the problem essentially drop to zero.
Look at any given thread, any given issue: The problem/issue is tossed out, usually from a hardcore leftwing or hardcore rightwing perspective. Virtually all arguments are black & white, binary, without even a hint of acknowledgment to the value of any opposing arguments in the least.
Next the name-calling and personal insults begin, and then it almost inevitably deteriorates even further into straw man arguments, where the poster puts untrue/absurd words into the mouth of their "opponent" (sure would be nice if we were in this together) for the intellectually dishonest goal of shooting down a point the other person did not make. It's all about ego & narcissism, about "winning" the argument, and not about actually fixing the problem.
Bottom line: Once a problem/issue is identified, and there are few exceptions if any, the narcissists take over the conversation and we may as well forget about any kind of tangible, identifiable progress. Everything becomes either/or, my way or the highway, and any reasonable adult will tell you that's not the way to fix a problem.
The narcissists, the partisan ideologues, are the problem. Far worse, they're the minority yet they make the most noise and as a result have the most influence. I wish they'd find another hobby and allow the adults in the room, the majority, to work together to fix our increasing problems. The ship is sinking and the deckhands are pointing the finger at each other.
.
The ship is not sinking.
To believe this makes one a partisan ideologue who is part of the problem.