Understanding the Divide

It is already March 2023. As we emerge from the coldest part of the year, we have the hope and promise of spring. We anticipate new growth emerging from seemingly lifeless trees and barren ground. During this time many of us also look introspectively and contemplate potential renewal and growth for ourselves, loved ones, and the world around us. As part of my contemplations, I feel led to share some political thoughts to challenge our minds. That is one of my hopes, that the things I write and talk about motivate people on all sides of the political arena to stop and think. To take time to consider possibilities outside our cloistered perspectives.

           One of the books I am currently reading is I Never Thought of It That Way by Monica Guzman.[1] In her book, Monica talks about how Americans have become greatly divided in many ways. We are divided not only politically, but also socially and geographically. Our human natures lead us to unconsciously gravitate to like-minded people. She presents ways to cross that divide in an effort to understand folks that hold views in opposition to our own. Even though by conventional wisdom she and I may be political opposites, I concur with her thesis and applaud her effort.

           From a different perspective, I wrote about the divide in my book To Concerned Americans, in what I refer to as Disconnects.[2] In every social-political issue of consequence, divisions form and widen due to disconnected perspectives. Our advanced technological capabilities and geographically mobile society ironically enables us to self-isolate ourselves without even realizing it. We become isolated in the news and views we expose ourselves to, the social circles within which we gather, the religious groups we congregate with, and the locations where we choose to live, work, and recreate.

           Our technology enables us to control the views we receive on our devices, and search out and find with specificity places, organizations, and people that are most to our liking; thereby isolating ourselves from all the rest. The technologies that potentially make us more connected to a wider spectrum of views and knowledge, have, in fact, done the opposite. The divide impedes the consideration of all sides that brings to light the best and most beneficial solutions.

           Although our technologies enhance our tendency to flock together, the propensity to self-enforced division is nothing new. At the founding of our nation, our founders warned us of the dangers of the formation of political parties and how they divide a society and legislatures into factions. Once established, political parties become focused on competing against and defeating their opposing faction rather than working together for the common good.

           While still under the Articles of Confederation, 17 years before he became our second president, John Adams was already warning of the danger of what we have become today.

“There is nothing I dread so much as the division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our constitution.” John Adams.[3]

            Just a few months after he joined with his colleagues in signing the US Constitution to be sent to the States for ratification, James Madison discussed the creation of factious political parties at length in his Federalist No.10 communique. The following is a quote from his discourse on the subject.

“The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man; and we see them everywhere brought into different degrees of activity, according to the different circumstances of civil society. A zeal for different opinions concerning religion, concerning government, and many other points, as well of speculation as of practice; an attachment to different leaders ambitiously contending for pre-eminence and power; or to persons of other descriptions whose fortunes have been interesting to the human passions, have, in turn, divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to co-operate for their common good. So strong is this propensity of mankind to fall into mutual animosities, that where no substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions and excite their most violent conflicts.” James Madison.[4]

               In his final address to the nation at the end of his second term as our first president, George Washington warned that factions were one of three great dangers to our government:

“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.” George Washington.[5]

           When I look at our nation today, these words from three crucial contributors to the foundation and establishment of our nation seem resoundingly prescient. In all levels of our political theaters, from local municipalities to the halls of Congress, the divides in our nation are wide and unabated. The lack of reasoned discussion and debate between parties push them further apart ensuring there will be no reconciliation.

This condition is untenable for a nation. As Jesus explained to the Pharisees almost 2000 years ago, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.”[6] As the two parties fritter away time making enemies of each other – and outspending each other to hold onto power, wasting our grandchildren’s money and wealth – our real enemies around the world gather, strengthen, and pursue our demise.

The Perils and Consequences of Today’s Divide

           I believe it is fair to conclude that the resolution of the divide will not come from the crucible of its creation. We should not expect the two parties to reform themselves and abandon the political hegemony they wield. It is unlikely those in powerful positions will seek to lessen the authority they possess for the sake of restoring freedoms to the people that have been slowly eroded by legislation enacted by those in power, well-intentioned or otherwise. The answer lies not in the hands of the politicians in control of the two major parties.

           There are people attempting to bridge the divide by forming alternative political organizations that seek middle ground and provide unbiased outlets for diverse opinions. But I still see and hear in them the same political biases and limited solutions. The rhetoric is just repackaged with other labels. The causes of the divide remain. You may bridge a canyon, but the gorge separating the two sides remains. They still operate in safe spaces without reaching fully across the divide in conversations that challenge their conceived notions sufficiently to cause them to concede that they may need to change their minds.

            It is perilous for us to ignore the wisdom of the those who conceived and gave birth to this unique and great nation. For the republic to survive, the founders believed in the need for a highly educated and moral society. Their concept of that education would include the history of the revolution that gave birth to the nation, and the ideals to which we should aspire. It includes the importance of fiercely protecting the freedoms of individuals against an overbearing centralized government with unassailable power. This was the singular purpose for many of the specific articles that form the Constitution, as well the first ten amendments to the Constitution.

            The average citizen is not a political radical. Even those who at the outset might espouse a strongly held belief, if engaged in meaningful curiously probing conversations in which they sincerely commit to understanding all sides of an issue, he or she may come away with new insights and perspectives and a moderated outlook on matters.[7]

            Constructive discussions with open minds not only expose us to the insights of others, but lead to new insights, innovations, and discoveries. Ideas not yet conceived. Meaningful meditations stimulated by exposure to alternative insights often spark the germination of imaginative thoughts and epiphanies. A climate of free public discussion of issues and topics multiplies the range of inputs and minds engaged in the thought process, opening the door wider for optimizing outcomes. This should be the desire and goal of all those involved in the legislative process, to arrive at the best possible course of action that serves, to the greatest extent possible, the interests of all citizens. This is what a free society should look like.

           Unfortunately, this is not the case today. We witness the exact opposite: closed door meetings, exclusion of opposing parties and the public, and votes on issues with no time to even read and digest and discuss what is in the legislation. Social and traditional media that shade or exclude not just opinions, but even facts contrary to their particular viewpoints. Aside from creating biased, one-sided legislation based on narrow myopic perspectives, such behavior only serves to deepen the divide and heighten the animosity between factions in our society.

            One of the last items of business of the 117^th Congress in December 2022, was passage of an omnibus spending bill for the federal fiscal year 2022-2023. This was nearly all drafted behind closed doors by select members of one party and presented to the Senate and House for a vote with literally only hours to review and vote. This represents a severe failure of Congress to properly perform one of their primary responsibilities – determine a budget and spending limits for the next fiscal year.

            This failure has occurred every year since 1996. The federal fiscal year begins on October 1. The budget process should begin months before that date with open discussions of appropriate spending measures, spending priorities, evaluation of existing programs that no longer serve a clear public purpose, and honest observation of fiscal and Constitutional limits on spending. The budget should have been passed after considerable time for input and debate before October 1.

            This is fiscal malfeasance. Both parties are guilty. The results are out-of-control spending, out-of-control inflation, and incomprehensible government debt that will burden our grandchildren. Right now, if the debt is spread evenly between every man, woman, and child in America, each would owe about $95,000.[8] That does not include the unfunded burden of Social Security and Medicare, which would push that debt figure to somewhere between $400,000 and over$1,000,000 per person, depending upon how one projects and estimates the income and outlays of those two mandates. These are unfathomable figures. Those in Congress who should all be aware of these figures, have been acting completely irresponsibly for far too long.

One Path to Solutions

               If I could magically make it happen, I would wave my wand and eliminate political parties in our nation. I recognize this is not going to happen any time soon, and I am certain for many reading this, it is inconceivable to operate without political parties. Thus, after warning of their inherent dangers to a free democratic republic, I offer some suggestions to mitigate the damage by placing controls upon the parties and government officials in authority:

1)     All deliberative meetings must be held in public sessions open to all parties. Discussion of pending legislation, including budgets and spending, between members of Congress or members of other legislative bodies must be done in open meetings. No closed-door meetings, no discussions of pending legislation over meals or at any other venue not open to the public. All written communications, memos, hearing and deposition transcripts, and other gathered data and information should be entered into a publicly accessible data base in a timely manner well before any vote is taken on any measure. No special interest lobbying in private meetings. Anything any special interest groups have to communicate to members of Congress need to follow the same rules. No private interest funded trips.

2)     A minimum time should be required from the day a piece of legislation is introduced out of committee in open full session to the time it is considered for a vote; perhaps 30 days or 60 days. No spending without a previously approved budget. No continuing resolutions, certainly no such resolutions or omnibus spending bills that increase budgets from the previous year. The spending bills passed with the excuse of a COVID emergency were mostly special interest pork barrel spending and wasteful handouts.

3)     Election reform. Congress is not the venue for election reforms. There is a powerful reason for legislatures to oversee elections rather than Congress. Give Congress that authority, and you may as well give up all your rights. We have seen how one party can dominate and takeover the legislative process. Give a dominate national party control over elections, and they will ensure that they always win. Imagine if election decisions are turned over to a handful of leaders of one party in Congress who seek absolute control. Honestly, this is what is behind the For the People Act and similar legislation put forth in the117^th Congress.

4)     Stop public funding of primary elections to choose private political party candidates. Primary elections should be held to narrow the field to two candidates. An individual political party should not be allowed more than one candidate in a primary. They are private organizations; they need to conduct their own elections at their own expense.

5)     State elections should reflect their regional opinions and preferences, and not the views of large well-funded national organizations imposing their opinions upon individual states. This was the original intent of the Constitution, to keep election oversight in the hands of individual states to limit the power of potential despotic national factions. The framers of the Constitution could not predict the development of communication and financial transactions that can span the nation in an instant, but the framer’s principle remains valid. The technology creates a problem that somehow needs to be properly managed.

6)     What citizens need to STOP doing, is asking and demanding more from their government, especially on the federal level. The more you ask for, the more power you give to government executives, legislators, and bureaucrats, resulting in less freedom for individuals. Elected officials at all levels claim their achievements by the number of new laws they helped enact and the amount of funding they claim to bring to their districts. Here is a recent example from an email a legislator sent to me, “I have put millions of dollars to work directly in our district, … .” Politicians talk as if they are spending their own money, but it is not theirs, it is other people’s money – it’s your money. That is your grandchildren’s money. They literally buy your vote with your money. They are like a thief who steals your identity and borrows money in your name that you must pay for.

            These are just some of my suggestions. I am certain most government representatives will find reasons to object to them. Only those who desire to serve the best interests of all citizens in a fair and responsible manner will support these measures. Those who oppose such measures are the ones you should not vote for. Demand these things from your Congressional and legislature representatives and look for their reactions, and then vote accordingly. Vote based upon the only way to bring sanity back to government and break the choke hold of the two major parties. Let’s make this the year we begin to right the course of our nation.

[1]Guzman, Monica, I Never Thought of It That Way, (Dallas, Texas: BenBellaBooks, Inc., 2022).

[2]White, John, To Concerned Americans, (KDP: Cross Stone Publishing, 2022)Page 99.

[3]John Adams, quotation from a letter to Jonathan Jackson, October 2, 1780.

[4]Madison, James, Federalist No. 10 – MADISON: The Union as a Safeguard against Domestic Factions [a/k/a/ political parties] and Insurrection. From the New York Packet; Friday, November 23, 1787, To the People of the State of New York.

[5]George Washington, quotation from his Farewell Address, 1796. It is worth noting that Washington’s Farewell Address was 7,641 words long, and focused on three main concerns 1) the need for national unity, 2) the worst enemy of government is loyalty to party over the best interest of the nation, and 3) the danger of foreign entanglements. The discourse regarding unity and the dangers of party loyalty cover many pages and the quotation given here in merely provides a sense of his concerns. It is traditional in the US Senate to read the full text of the Farewell Address to the assembly each year to observe Washington’s birthday. I recommend a reading of the full address to any who have not done so.

[6]Matthew 12:25, New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

[7]I must credit Monica Guzman again. To understand better the phrase “curiously probing conversations,” read her book, I Never Thought of It That Way,(Dallas, Texas: Ben Bella Books, Inc, 2022).

[8]For more on this subject, see White, John, To Concerned Americans, chapter10 – Government, Taxes, Spending and Debt, (KDP: Cross Stone Publishing,2022) Pages 73-85. Note in 2020 the debt owed by each man, woman and child was $72,600; it is roughly a 14.4% increase annually to the end of 2022. If projected just to the end of the current decade, the amount owed would be an estimated $278,740. This does not include future Social Security and Medicare payments.

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