How to make democracy actually work again
If it be granted- and I think it's pretty obvious- that our devolution into competing political and cultural echo chambers in which we shout prejudice-reinforcing slogans to each other and then scream them in unison at the people in the other echo chamber, and that this process threatens our very ability to function as a free people, then this article seems to me to have a great deal to say to us.
How can positions which, on both sides, are increasingly seen as matters embodying sacred values not to be compromised be opened up to the kind of dialog on which democracy depends? How can this be done without anybody betraying their principles, yet also in such a way as to promote the building not only of abstract consensus but of a united front against the problems which threaten our society? I can think of no more important issue in this time of extremism and polarization. Bo Winegard offers a way out- a way of discussing controversial matters which avoids demonizing our opponents by being prepared to concede, rather than fortify, the weak points in our position while conceding rather than rationalizing away the strengths of the position of our opponents. In so doing, he offers us a way to save our democracy.
If the goal in our political discourse remains primarily to win, we are not going to get very far either in building consensus and the kind of political cohesion which will enable us to function as one people. If we see those with whom we disagree as evil and our position as a moral crusade to defeat it we will never solve any of the pressing problems which face us. If we insist on our own utter purity and the utter depravity of those with those who take the opposite position then the inherent flaws in even the best thought-out position will sabotage its implementation, and our divisions will probably prevent us from even identifying it.
Only if we see the problem as the enemy and recognize both the limitations of our own position and the strengths of that of our opponents will we be able to discuss and debate our problems again, with a view to solving them rather than to defeating those who disagree with us.
Only then will we be one people again, and be able to do what the abysmal approval ratings of Congress and government at nearly every level show us that both Left and Right recognize at some level that we are no longer able to do: govern ourselves.
Winegard offers us a roadmap for doing that, and I commend it to you.
How can positions which, on both sides, are increasingly seen as matters embodying sacred values not to be compromised be opened up to the kind of dialog on which democracy depends? How can this be done without anybody betraying their principles, yet also in such a way as to promote the building not only of abstract consensus but of a united front against the problems which threaten our society? I can think of no more important issue in this time of extremism and polarization. Bo Winegard offers a way out- a way of discussing controversial matters which avoids demonizing our opponents by being prepared to concede, rather than fortify, the weak points in our position while conceding rather than rationalizing away the strengths of the position of our opponents. In so doing, he offers us a way to save our democracy.
If the goal in our political discourse remains primarily to win, we are not going to get very far either in building consensus and the kind of political cohesion which will enable us to function as one people. If we see those with whom we disagree as evil and our position as a moral crusade to defeat it we will never solve any of the pressing problems which face us. If we insist on our own utter purity and the utter depravity of those with those who take the opposite position then the inherent flaws in even the best thought-out position will sabotage its implementation, and our divisions will probably prevent us from even identifying it.
Only if we see the problem as the enemy and recognize both the limitations of our own position and the strengths of that of our opponents will we be able to discuss and debate our problems again, with a view to solving them rather than to defeating those who disagree with us.
Only then will we be one people again, and be able to do what the abysmal approval ratings of Congress and government at nearly every level show us that both Left and Right recognize at some level that we are no longer able to do: govern ourselves.
Winegard offers us a roadmap for doing that, and I commend it to you.
Comments