̶Y̶o̶u̶ We Are Hypocrites
Admit it. That burning frustration in your stomach about the state of our politics and tribal mentality, your insistence that the other side is nothing but a bunch of idiots who can’t see their obvious flaws — they are not the problem. It’s not them, it’s ̶y̶o̶u̶ me. ̶Y̶o̶u̶ We are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites.
During the 90s, Democrats downplayed Clinton’s character flaws in support of his policies while Republicans screamed about his many crimes and moral shortcomings. Now those same Republicans look past Trump’s moral soullessness in the name of tax cuts and Supreme Court justices, while Democrats decry Trump’s high crimes and immorality.
Mitch McConnell and Republicans exercised an unconscionable act of hypocrisy, refusing to consider Merrick Garland 10 months before the 2016 election but then taking up Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination 8 weeks before an election. Republicans made ridiculous excuses about this obvious flip-flop, but let’s be honest: Democrats would have done the same thing if the roles were reversed.
We hate politicians because they’re unapologetic hypocrites, but they’re simply a mirror of us. We’re the hypocrites because we don’t hold politicians accountable. We don’t want our politicians to be honest and authentic; we want them to support our team. We’re too busy deciding the other side is wrong, no matter how awful our side it. So we stick our heads up our tribal backsides and check all rationality and independent thought at the door.
When are we going to stop and shine a spotlight on this ridiculousness? Liberals hated on Trump’s trade war, even though tariffs align with their economic protectionist tendencies. Conservatives blindly supported the trade war, even though it flies in the face of their traditional free-market beliefs. A trade war is the state intervening in the free market system, a hallmark of socialism. Yet far-right conservatives scream that Biden is a socialist because Trump says so, and far-left liberals support Biden even though Trump implemented part of their socialist trade agenda.
Why are we like this? Read Tim Urban’s “The Story of Us”. Our Primitive Mind’s need for belonging is built into our circuitry, especially in a time of uncertainty. And we’re in very uncertain times, so we align with our tribe to confirm our biases because we are afraid.
Don’t think we’re afraid? Half of all Republicans are convinced the 2020 election is rigged because their guy said so. Liberals should want to stamp out any fraud in elections, no matter how small. They won’t support this because they’re afraid it validates Trump’s rhetoric. Conservatives need to accept there was nowhere near enough fraud to change the outcome. Their guy lost, and they’re frightened of the implications.
You want this divisive political atmosphere to end? Stop assuming the other side is terrible. Recognize we’re all being awful, stop confirming your beliefs through your biased news site, and rediscover your voice over your tribe’s echo chamber. Exercise your right to independent thought and accept that politicians won’t change until we do. Lindsey Graham is a spineless coward who completely flip flopped on everything the last 4 years, but it’s because he knows that’s what ̶y̶o̶u̶ we want. It’s time to tell him and ourselves: enough.
It has to start somewhere — it starts with me.
