In politics, many people pick a person or a party, then maybe look at the issues. Often times, they don’t think about issues at all. They attack people or parties. Even if I can get them to think about an issue, when they start by attacking a person or a party, that frames how they think. It is very difficult to get them to be rational.
President Trump is one of the worst in that respect. He attacks people or the opposing party first. Opponents respond in like measure. The result is emotional not rational. Soon people are doing something just to be the opposite.
Reminds me of when I was about four years old. A teenage boy was sitting in his car waiting for my aunt. He wanted me to do something. I shook my head. He nodded his. We both did that for a little bit and then he shook his head and I nodded mine. I was just doing the opposite of what he was doing.
I’ve noticed that political parties change sides on issues. If you follow the party and not the issues, you too will change sides.
People won’t give their opponents a win, even if the win means getting what they want. If you simply followed the issues, you would recognize the win.
Think about it in therms of your health. We crave consistency. When we follow people or political parties, we can have a shallow consistency. We are always one party or the other. However, when the party changes, we find ourselves on a different side of an issue. That creates inconsistency. We might even find ourselves attacking the position we used to defend and defending the position we used to attack. That creates inner turmoil. If you are awake enough to notice.
I’ve heard that Albert Schweitzer was asked what was wrong with the world. He replied, “Men simply don’t think.”
Some people feel deeply about one issue. They stick with that one issue and don’t care about anything else. At least they are sticking with an issue.
I’m just not a one issue person. I like to see a broad picture. I understand that there are tradeoffs. There are interconnections.
How can we help the most people live lives with the most freedoms? That might be an umbrella issue that we all should care about.