Ben Franklin famously said, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” This is certainly still applicable in the United States, but I’d argue that there is another certainty in the modern day: partisan bickering.
Ever since the party lines have been drawn, there has been an ever-present amount of mud-slinging and finger pointing across the aisle. Never before has the divide between the major parties been so wide. Without delving too much into the statistics, it’s worth pointing out some of the trends that have kept driving the wedge even further.
According to a report by Pew Research, the negative views of each party toward their counterpart has doubled. In 1994, 17 percent of Republicans “had very unfavorable opinions” toward Democrats, while 17 percent held similar views of Republicans. Since then the numbers have more than doubled, with distrusting Republicans jumping to 43 percent and Democrats spiking to 38 percent. Also notable in this report was the ideology of each party moving further to the left or the right. The number of Republicans that have leaned to the right has grown 28 percent over the last 23 years, while the Democrats have moved 24 percent.
Now that the boring figures are out of the way, it’s time to look at the root of the problem, and the issues that have polarized our politics.
Social Media
The advent of social networking sites, such as Facebook, have given billions of people a platform from which they can to better connect with others. Now, more than ever, news and opinions can be spread at breakneck speeds, causing an instantaneous forum for debate. While this can be great for raising awareness, with respect to social issues and providing alternative viewpoints, it also has the power to make opinions more stringent and unwavering. People within certain political circles tend to pass along news stories that fit their agenda, therefore becoming effectively blind to the other side of the argument.
Fake News and distrust of the Media
The latter statement leads us into the next troublesome trend that’s caused a chasm between each end the political spectrum is the omnipresent accusations of “alternative facts.”
While there have been a plethora of false reports that have directly and indirectly created controversy, the majority of coverage by the mainstream media is based on facts no matter how much of a spin is put on them.
However, politicians and their base have increasingly used the moniker of “fake news” to brush aside any statements that don’t match their view of themselves or their platforms.
The biggest tragedy that has stemmed from this phenomenon is that our own president has bought into the hype and consistently throws his accusations against the wall, hoping that they’ll stick.
It’s easy to see that, when the leaders of our nation make bold statements, the voters listen. Just scroll through any comment section of the major news broadcasters and there will be a staggering amount of naysayers undermining the news with the scathing accusations of false reporting.
While it is always a good idea to question everything, there still needs to be a level of respect and trust for the work that these journalists and newscasters have put into bring us the news.
So what can we do about this?
Obviously there will never be a total agreement between the parties, nor will politicians ever speak well about their “foes” all of the time. But it can be in our power to ignore all the petty infighting and make decisions based upon the facts. If we, as citizens, can find middle ground and start trusting our ideologically different neighbors then we can start electing those who represent our collective needs.