No one wins

I'm so sick of the partisan bullshit being proliferated in all manner of media these days, from television to the blogosphere. I'm starting to even hate the word blogosphere, though I am a regular (if unheard of) contributor to the online community. All day every day, leftists and rightists take intellectual pot-shots at each other. Everyone complains that we keep talking past each other, and yet we keep fucking talking PAST EACH OTHER! Conservatives claim the liberals dominate the news media, so they stake their claim in a.m. talk radio. Shame on both of them for not pursuing balanced news and radio programming.

I admit I am guilty of perpetuating the cycle. I see an attack, and I want to avenge it. But, as I often say, violence begets more violence, even if it is verbal.

It's true- we have a lot of shit on each other, dating back a long way. We cannot disown the ideologies and strategies we subscribe to, but let's be honest with ourselves about the kind of world we want to live in and the most honest, morally upright methods to pursue that. Barring that (because, realistically, I don't think we will ever agree), let's discuss the points we agree on.

For starters, can we agree that every modern government is flawed, and is motivated by political self-interest. That's not to say there aren't decent, talented people involved in government, but I think the illusion that countries and their governments act out of kindness contributes to an inflated sense of moral superiority.

I have had many conversations with a conservative friend back in Canada which played out like chess games. It was an open debate; he would make a point, I would rebut, we move on. Today’s political conversations are more like knife fights, and no one wins.