Why Are We So Polarized?

photo credit: Aaron Springston

I just read an article saying that 79% of Democrats and 82% of Republicans overestimate the level at which the other side dehumanizes them. By a large margin, voters on either "side" hold false beliefs about what the other party really thinks of them. At this time when our country faces urgent challenges, we need to find our common ground and work together to solve these issues. So why in the world are we so polarized?? I've never understood political parties. Shouldn't we all be for the good of the people? When I would say that to my parents decades ago, they would tell me what most people would tell me today: Everyone has different ideas of what that good is. Good grief! I remember a word we don't hear much about anymore: compromise. At some point, give and take came to be thought of as flip-flopping or a sign of weakness. It's become "my way or no way" for a lot of people, and it's not working. Let's join together with no thought other than what needs to happen for our citizenry to thrive, for our world to continue to be the paradise that it is, and for evolution to be an upward movement rather than a nosedive and implosion. I know we can do this! Life is Good. Everyone wants good for themselves and their loved ones. And we are all One. Namaste...

"One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfills the Scripture, 'Love thy neighbor as thyself;' annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 340:23-29