Where do we go from here as a nation?

The 2020 election ended when the last poll closed on November 3rd 2020. Over the coming days final vote tallies will be finalized, some states will have recounts and we will see the end of the process of our 2020 election. There is little doubt in my mind that there will be any change to the current result of a Biden victory in the presidential election. So the question remains, where do we go from here? 

We have seen 20 of the most divisive years in modern American history. Our nation has deep wounds that need to be healed. Divisions that have deepened as tribalism and partisanship has encircled this nation. We must find a way to learn from what has happened and move forward together. So much needs to be accomplished, and the way we have spent most of the last two decades cannot be how we spend the next decade. 

For my whole adult life I have been a registered Republican. Me not supporting Trump has not been a surprise to any. I think there's this misconception among Trump supporters that the reason people opposed him was because their person lost. I didn't vote for Clinton or Trump in 2016. I had no misconceptions that who I voted for would not be in office in 2017. I opposed Trump's leadership in office for nearly 4 years because much of what he pushed for I do not agree with and because of the way he has led for the last 4 years. I opposed him in the same way I opposed Obama for the 8 years prior to that. I praised both for the good things, and opposed the things I didn't agree with. Yes, I have personal feelings that absolutely make me biased against Trump. I'm human, we all have biases. I also listened and tried to understand what those who followed him were upset about and what they were seeking for. Many have felt attacked for much of the last 12 years, including their faith, their views of America, and their political ideology.

There's also a misconception among democrats that Trump supporters are by and far ignorant racists. That they hate people of color and a bigots, etc. From what I've seen that simply isn't true. Those who support him often are people who have shown great kindness in their daily lives to everyone. They supported Trump for many reasons and it would be good for us to listen and understand those reasons if we are ever to move forward as a nation.

There are good people in both parties. What we really need to stop doing is labeling other people and start listening more. I am committing that I will try to do that more to listen and reflect more, and I hope over the coming years we all will. If we ever want to reunite as a country we need to spend more time listening to others, especially those we disagree with. We don't have to agree on everything, but we should strive to find a middle ground where we can move forward together. I hope this change will happen in Washington and in our own homes. May God Bless America.

Tribalism in US politics needs to end now.

Our country is divided, and there is no denying that. Divided on religion, politics, culture and more. This othering has created more problems than it solves in our nation.

Often straw man arguments are the worst of this.  For example, I've always found it strange when people point to certain regions of the country to argue why one party is somehow better than the other. California(blue state) has issues, it has good and bad things happening there. Mississippi(red state) has good and bad things happening there. No party controls an entire state from top to bottom. No county in the entire US voted completely for one individual.

Similarly calling something left or right doesn't somehow shutdown the discussion. There are policies that Bernie Sanders has (campaign finance) that I agree with. There are policies of his I don't agree with. The same is true of Biden, Trump, Warren, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and any other politician.

I have yet to have found a politician that I agree 100% on every issue with or any that I disagree 100% with. Even Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders agree on some issues, and have voted with each other at times. We have more in common as a country than we do that differentiates us. Sadly we have become too focused on the things that divide instead of those that unite. 

We've become too focused on us versus them. Red state versus blue state, Democrats versus Republicans. I've lived in blue states, red states and purple states. There are differences in each, and there are specific policies I prefer in some than in others. Some of those policies came from Republicans, some can from Democrats.

This us versus them mentality is called tribalism. I also nickname it team sports politics. Go ask a Patriots fan if Tom Brady cheated. They will most likely deny he cheated. Ask most other NFL fans, and they will say he absolutely did. This mindset creates blind spots in our thought processes where we refuse to consider ideas outside of our own belief system. You could take the exact same quote and say it was Bernie Sanders or Ted Cruz and tell it to someone and their reaction would be very different depending on who said it. Not what was said, but who said it. The words meaning didn't change, just the person they came from.

Tribalism needs to be put to rest. Individual policies should be evaluated for their merits, not from whom they came from. Candidates should be evaluated for their policies, their experience and their character, not which letter is next to their name. Each of us needs to try to understand what people are pushing for and why. Evaluate the data on both sides and then make a decision for yourself. Taking the party line without evaluating the basics leads to more tribalism.

Some issues I think everyone should spend time thinking and evaluating that are vitally important to our country right now:

Immigration
Tax reform (higher/lower taxes, loopholes, etc.)
Healthcare (Medicare for all, Obamacare, full privatization, removing regulations etc.)
Spending and the national debt
Infrastructure
The responsibilities of government

These are issues that our federal government has direct control over. Being an election year it is vital that we look at these issues and evaluate our stances on them.

Look at as many sides as you can, look at the data those sides and make your own decision. Then discuss with those around you what you've learned. Discuss ideas, open and freely without personal attacks.

In Washington's farewell address he warned of his own fears of parties and tribalism:

"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."

If we are ever to unite as a nation, it will come by being open to trusting those around us, being open to new ideas that are not our own, and by not sinking to the basest notions of human nature.