Quite possibly the greatest misperception in modern America is that the right and left – republicans and democrats – are all that different. There are those – specifically the news media and political parties – who foster that misperception for totally self-centered and self-righteous reasons, whipping us all up into a constant series of whacked-out frenzies. But the truth of the matter is that we, the people, are being played like angry, ignorant puppets by puppeteers (and profiteers) who find it all rather enriching and no doubt funny.
Sit down with any reasonable republican or democrat and talk. You will find that they have almost the exact same ideas, beliefs, experiences and concerns about life, love, family, safety, and so on. Even if you pick a hot button issue – higher taxes, increased military “presence”, abortion – and drill down, you’ll still find 80 percent similarity and 20 percent disagreement.
If the spectrum ranging from raging “fascist” to useless “hippie” were 100 yards long, 80 percent of Americans would live between the 40 yard lines. Yet the media would lead you to believe we’re about ready to go to civil war.
That’s because the loud mouths benefit from our misconstrued anger. What political party in the world can win without demonizing the other? How can any biased news outlet be profitable without creating an army of biased listeners?
Every few years we are whipped up into a frenzy about this or that election and then over the next few years our lives – in terms of how much the elected have affected us – change almost imperceptibly. You can rage at their votes, or comments, posturing or affiliations, but they’ve ultimately (usually) had zero measurable actual impact on you or your family’s lives.
If America as a nation swings left or right, it would be the limp swing of a hammock-ed fat man in a light breeze. Think Mussolini right; Castro left. We’re two same colored, same gendered, same cultured dudes from the same town in the same college fraternity who married sisters. We’ve got issues, but we’re almost exactly the same, and if we ignore them when they don’t matter – despite what the news media and political parties lead us to believe – we’ll live together in mostly perfect harmony.
I got a business. I work with pubs and dems. We’re all the same. So stop bickering. And stop listening to the news media (until it gets crucial and what they say actually matters to you and yours) or political parties (be not a pub or dem, but a voter; be a voter).
If a politician has some lapse that seems immoral, unethical, ugly and horrible, but ultimately affects you and your family not one iota (outside the media “attention” it receives), then let it go. If your favorite radio personality tells you the other guy in the other party on that “other world” – ha ha – is out to destroy you, your family and what you believe in, stop believing. Any decent and brave pub or dem would pull any other dem or pub (respectively) out of their burning Prius or SUV (respectively).
Dumbass republicans. Pussy democrats. Whatever.
We all love our planet, our world, our country, our states, cities, towns and neighborhoods; our family and our kids.
We’re the 80.
Let’s be quiet and proud. Let’s ignore the 20 until they say something important. And they rarely, rarely do.
Luke Soiseth 