I’ve spent the last several years refining and further developing my political thoughts and stance as I have gained new perspective. I think a lot of us have, particularly since the last general election here in the United States.
There is so much divisiveness. I don’t think we are listening to what others are saying. We aren’t trying to understand different perspectives and that doesn’t benefit any of us.
I’ve pondered the perspective of both sides of many issues and discovered there are often more than two sides. I’ve wondered why we aren’t truly hearing each other. I’ve searched for answers to why we can’t seem to work together to find a common solution anymore.
I had an epiphany as I considered the different angles of various political hot potatoes.
Take healthcare for example. Democrats believe that healthcare should be a right for everyone in this country. That we shouldn’t have to worry about whether we can afford to get the treatment and the medicine we need. Republicans take issue with this stance for at least two reasons.
1- Republicans believe in personal responsibility. They believe they should help others help themselves.
2-They feel that taxes are a burden on people. It is their goal to alleviate the amount people pay in taxes. Providing Health Insurance for everyone does raise taxes.
Now what is wrong with the Democrats perspective? What is wrong with the Republican’s perspective?
NOTHING
I know it sounds simplistic and easy. But I came to understand that each of these positions come from the motivation of wanting to help others. Each side wants to make the world a better place.
What if we started looking at things from this perspective? Let’s assume that the people on the other side of the aisle’s motives are coming from a place that is good. What if we realized that our differences lie in how to accomplish our goals?
Most Republican’s don’t have a problem with Healthcare. Making sure people have access to affordable, proper care is a need they recognize. Most Democrats want to help others become more self-sufficient. They know that we should still be able to balance the checkbook at the end of the day.
I am always surprised when I talk to people of different political persuasions about social issues. Our beliefs are often very similar. Yet we are led to believe if we listen to the media and politicians, that we have very little in common. They say we can’t give in. We must forge ahead pushing just one solution to the problem forward.
I believe it’s time for honest discussions and a reassessment of our priorities. There are some things we aren’t going to agree on, but there is a lot that we could not only agree on and find a solution. But only if we sit down and truly listen to other’s experiences and ideas.
The solution starts with you, and with me. Let’s start listening, let’s consider other people’s perspective. Let’s start finding common ground and build on it, and then build a bridge across our differences so we can meet in the middle. Otherwise, what will we have left?
As someone with a disability there are issues I just can’t compromise on because they are necessary for my survival. Healthcare is one of them. Besides my immediate family most of my relatives are very conservative so I have spent years having to listen to the other side. Some are good people but most are self centered. They talk only about what will help them. If they can get lower taxes for themselves they don’t care if it means insurance for people like me goes away. One of them lives in a state where taxes are so low that they don’t fund the fire department to fight fires at individual houses. If you can’t pay the “optional” fees, which are the same regardless of income unlike taxes, the firefighters will not save your house. My relative is a firefighter there and they let homes burn because people could not afford the yearly fee. I will never understand the mindset of people who support policies that punish people for being sick or poor. One of these relatives owns a chain of businesses and is constantly complaining about having to pay his state’s very low minimum wage (no benefits of course). He can’t get enough workers because the other businesses pay more in his area and he get angry with workers for not staying when they can make significantly more elsewhere. It’s all about him. One of them has disowened his child because she married a black man. Many of them are horribly racist and surprised when we aren’t. It’s all them vs us, “them” being anyone who is poor, not white, LGBTQ+, not Christian ect. I never hear concern for people, just a concern for themselves because they feel others are somehow threatening them just by being different. None of them support Medicaid but they’ve all been happy to take advantage of it when needed. They just don’t want to pay the taxes before hand. I hear the same sentiments from Republicans in my liberal state. Some truly are just people who support small government. I disagree with those people but don’t think they are bad people and can occssionally find areas we could work together on. Often though it’s just people who are so focused on themselves they don’t see how fostering the community is in anyway beneficial. They don’t want to pay for the roads they drive on, or the schools that educate the kids who will grow up to be the workers who support them. And when I bring up how their stance on healthcare could see me severely impacted and some people dead they claim that there is always the ER…which is perfectly capable of treating my rare condition that no one in any of the 3 ERs in my area has ever heard of. This school of thought that is not focused on small government but rather putative actions against the “other” has multiplied greatly in recent years and I’m not sure what kind of compromise can be reached with people who are happy to allow other people to lose their homes or die from lack of medical care while also using the government programs they claim to hate and refuse to support. After 20+ years of listening to people across the Western half of the US I’m not sure what can be accomplished by continued listening.
Marie, thank you for responding. I appreciate it. I know exactly where you are coming from as we have Medicaid for his son due to his disability. I discovered this year that there are multiple states in the nation that don’t give Medicaid based on disabilities only on financial ability. So there are a lot of states we could not live in.
I come from an extremely Conservative background so I understand where Conservatives are coming from. What I have found over the years is becoming educated about others situations and finding out why they think things should be the way they do extremely helpful. I’m now probably far less Conservative and far more middle of the road leaning completely Independent now.
I think every side feels attacked. Conservatives- Christians feel that their way of life is under attack. The things they have always held dear. Liberals the same. When we are in a position of defense it’s really hard to “hear” anyone.
I’ve found when I talk to people leaving “labels” out of the conversation that many of them are concerned about the very same things I am. Often too we actually agree on how we could change it despite being at supposed opposite ends of the political spectrum. But we have bought into the fear mongering from both sides not trusting the other.
For example- Healthcare, I think at the root of the problem is that it’s too expensive. If you have major medical issues in this country you can come very close to loosing everything because we simply can’t afford paying the price of the care we need. I think we all agree with that. So rather than coming at it from a Medicaid perspective, a Conservative or Liberal perspective, if we could get people to look at it from a “people perspective” I think we could get a lot farther. There are people who as you say don’t want to pay for anything. These are the people we need to open their eyes to see the bigger picture, one outside themselves. It will take time but I think it’s the only way it will work.
Thanks for sharing your inspiring post on the #LMMLInkup this past week. I found your insight on Democrats and Republicans so refreshing. I wish all of us could agree that at heart we want to help one another even if we disagree on the best ways to go about doing this. Maybe we would find middle ground to make real change.
Thank you.
I was just thinking about this – connecting on common ground – when I was listening to Matt Maher’s All the People Said Amen the other day. You’re right on, listening is so valuable. Thanks for linking up at #PorchStories.
Thank you. I’m trying to practice what I’m preaching. 😉
This might be the wisest thing I have read in a long time! I will be sharing it on social media. Thanks for the cool-headed thoughts. laurensparks.net
Thank you. That’s quite a compliment!
Calleen, these are my sentiments exactly. If we could just listen to each other, we could learn so much and see that the differences may not be as great as we think. You look at the state of the country and it’s tempting to think what we do won’t make a difference, but it will. If we do our part to listen right where we are (sometimes within our own families) we can take a big step forward to finding solutions. Blessings to you! I’m your neighbor at #HeartEncouragement.
I decided to take my own advice on election night and pay no attention to what party a politician belonged to a really listen to what they were saying. What I found was that a lot of them were saying the same thing. We want a lot of the same thing. We just aren’t hearing each other and that stops us from accomplishing doing the things we actually agree on. It was an interesting experience.
Let’s start listening… therein lies a huge problem. In recent years, it seems that our communication skills have dwindled. No longer can we debate civilly without resorting to shouting and name calling. We hear people all the time, but I doubt we (as a collective whole) really listen. Listening is a special skill that requires the listener to put him/herself on the back burner for a bit and give one’s attention to the other. In our society, in this day and time, we have a problem with doing that. But, I wholeheartedly agree. If we would start really listening to one another, that’s a big start.
I would agree that our communication skills have dwindled.
Last night I listened to several politicians and really listened to their words, trying to ignore whether they were a Democrat or Republican. It was an interesting exercise, because I found that in many cases they were saying the same things. We just aren’t listening and realizing that.
Very well said!
Thanks for linking up @LiveLifeWell!
Blessings,
Amy
It seems like compromise and listening to each other has been lost in political circles. Your post should be required reading for every public servant! 🙂
Thank you. I just keep feeling a need to speak about this on my blog.
Bravo!
Now if we can just figure out how to fund mental health services for our children.
Agreed!