At 4 years old, I accidentally started reading the dictionary every night. So I’ve always been keenly attuned to the definitions of words and how people use them.
One set of terms I’ve struggled to define for years: political parties in the US.
Our two parties contain a wildly diverse mix of people. I’ve met people from both committed to improving the lives of everyone they can, community volunteers, warm and welcoming. And likewise, some people from both are clearly interested in the increase of brute power, crushing their opponents and benefitting personally from the results.
This leads some folks to say they’re both the same. This clearly isn’t correct. People align themselves with one party or another very strongly. So what is the difference between the two?
Tip O’Neill said “All politics are local”, but he didn’t go far enough. All politics are emotional. The political party someone aligns with has to do more with how they feel: do you believe the most important quality in government is to show strength, or caring?
Like so many important questions, the answer depends on how we deal with fear. Let me give you two examples.
Early in the pandemic, when the mask mandate relaxed to allow not wearing a mask outdoors, I heard several liberal friends object. Even when the decree came from medical authorities, the folks who usually begged everyone to ‘follow the science!’ balked at relaxing.
Last summer I saw a guy on a chopper motorcycle, racing down the highway, weaving between cars. Not only not wearing a helmet, he had flip-flops on his feet.
Some people deal with their fear of death by making a show of how unafraid they are, conspicuously flaunting their risk-taking. Some people deal with their fear by making a show of all the precautions they take.
We all deal with fear differently, but we all have to deal with it.
This Election Day, please remember: your opponent is not a monster.
