The election is finally over, and boy was it was strange one.
I was expecting to write an article about a unified Democratic-controlled federal government. That didn’t materialize. What did materialize though is that our country remains extremely divided.
What this election should tell us, however, is that there are no Red or Blue states. They are all Purple. With the exception of a literal handful of states, most margins remained below a 60/40 split, and most were much closer than that. North Carolina was within one percentage point. America as a whole is not heavily skewed to one side. But it doesn’t seem that way, does it?
Unfortunately, the skew shows up in geography. Rural counties voted for Trump much more heavily than the national average, whereas the larger cities voted for Biden in similar ratios. This really isn’t good for us. It allows us to discredit whichever locale that we don’t live in. If we live in the cities, we disdain the rural; if we live in the rural areas, we disdain the cities. In both instances, we can dismiss the ideas of the unfamiliar. This isn’t good. We are the United States of America, not the Divided States, nor the Red States, nor the Blue States. We are the United States.
There are some lessons that we can learn from this election. Our Founders were pretty smart about this. George Washington warned us about hyper-partisanship, which we have been deeply immersed in for the last several years. He even went as far to say that we shouldn’t have political parties. That wasn’t very realistic; we do need parties as an organizing force. But it does have the wisdom in that we need to be careful about becoming a divided nation. Our Founders worried about this. All countries fall apart when the division reaches a breaking point. We are pretty close to that edge. Our Founders tried to instill this wisdom in the language of our country.
Take out a dollar bill. Flip over to the back and look for the Great Seal of the United States (the eagle seal on the right). Above the eagle’s head there is a ribbon. The ribbon reads: “E Pluribus Unum.” In English that translates to: “Out of many, one.” This can also be seen on the back of standard quarter. Our Founders knew that we were stronger together than apart. These are words that we need to remember now more than ever.
On the left rear of the dollar bill, look at the all-seeing-eye pyramid. At the bottom it reads: “Novus Ordo Seclorum.” In English that reads: “The New Order of the Ages.” Our Founders were trying to set a precedent for the future of the world. This was the most moral form of government there was. They wanted us to set an example and they didn’t want us to lose it. One threat could come from within: hyper-partisanship and self-righteousness. If our citizens became polarized, our system could collapse. It’s our duty as citizens to prevent that.
So, what can we do? Here are some ways that all of us can do better to help our country.
The first thing we can do is to talk with other people about politics, especially those with which we disagree. For far too long, discussing politics has become taboo. It was thought that you weren’t supposed to talk about it. That is wrong. We must talk about it; that is how democracy works, and it is how democracy works best. We can’t solve our problems if we can’t agree on the problems. And if we can’t agree on the problems, then we won’t find any solutions.
Politics cannot be a domination of your ideas over others. This is America and your neighbors are your fellow Americans. Your fellow Americans cannot and should not be dominated. Everyone deserves to be a part of the discussion. You don’t get free range just because your party won, and you don’t get to shout down others. Remember, you are someone’s neighbor too; you don’t want to be dominated when your party loses next. Because we have forgotten how to talk with one another regarding politics, we have helped to further divide our nation. We have to eliminate the echo chambers that we have allowed to build up.
The second thing we can do is to be humble with our ideas and be open and empathetic to the other viewpoints. One person can only know so much, so you will never have all the answers. Listen to other people. Don’t fall into the idea that “I have to explain to people how things really are.” This type of thinking automatically places us into a position where we won’t be willing to accept other, and perhaps correct, viewpoints.
It’s possible that the other person has an interesting take on things that more corresponds to reality. Be open to the idea that we can learn something from anyone. This not only makes us better people, it also makes us smarter and more informed. Because reality has no master and it doesn’t neatly correspond with any particular political ideology, our viewpoints need to be flexible in order to correspond with reality. You can be wrong and that is perfectly OK, but the most important thing is that we are capable of updating our viewpoints. John Maynard Keynes said it best: “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” Let’s be more like that.
The third thing that we can do is to consider that you might be wrong and question your beliefs. It’s very easy for us to find the flaws in other people’s reasoning, but it is extremely hard for us to see the flaws in our own reasoning. We need to be a little bit more like the onlookers in an argument. You need to remember that it doesn’t feel nice to be told that you’re wrong. When we feel this way, it puts us on the defensive and we come up with ways to perpetuate our beliefs. It’s a totally natural reaction. Our minds are wonderful things, but they aren’t perfect. Our minds like simplicity and when something goes against our view, we try to discard the complexity; we like to be right. We always look for reasons to justify why we are right, but we rarely look for reasons that we might be wrong. Jesus and the Buddha couldn’t have said it better.
Jesus, in Matthew 7, said:
“And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
Or as the Buddha said:
“It’s easy to see the faults of others, but difficult to see one’s own faults. One shows the faults of others like chaff winnowed in the wind, but one conceals one’s own faults as a cunning gambler conceals his dice.”
Political polarization has been rampant the last few years, and it’s been very damaging to our country. As citizens, we haven’t been innocent in this; we have been active players in it. The above items are just a few ways that we can help our country work just a little bit better.
Remember, we are all Americans and we all want what’s best for our country. We all live here, so we should all get an equal say in our dialogue. We can’t sideline the other viewpoints. We are stronger when we work together to solve our differences. A divided America is not good. Our polarization is at levels not seen since the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln brought us through the Civil War by letting us become one America again. His words should be remembered: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
So, let’s all be a little bit nicer to one another. Let’s be more open to one another. And most importantly, let’s each of us work on being better citizens. Let’s become one America again.
Alex Auman is a Richmond Country native. He currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. He writes about politics, ideas and current events.
