What Happened To Honest Discourse?

I remember a time in my life when it was not only therapeutic to have a political discussion with someone who had a conflicting point of view on an issue, but intellectually stimulating, as well. And when the verbal exchange was over, no matter how heated the discourse had become, we always seemed to depart as friends, simply agreeing to disagree.

I think today, it would be rare to witness such a scenario being duplicated. For it seems that people are so polarized on issues, especially political, that their ability to discuss them objectively is no longer possible. And almost immediately, rather that “making a point, then listening to a counterpoint,” the whole thing degenerates into unproductive name calling and finger pointing.

This new type of “non discussion,” then, is very sad. And even sadder, is the fact that its net result is to separate people’s positions even farther, and generate bad feelings and an unwillingness to mutually solve existing problems. What’s more, the strategy has become a convenient tool to simply silence the opposition, that is, when one side runs out of strong points to offer on behalf of their particular views.

Examples of this are rampant on a daily basis. For example, if you criticize President Obama, you’re a racist. If you want a closed border policy, it’s because you hate Mexicans. If you think there should be cuts in government programs in a bad economy, you actually despise teachers and kids, want the handicapped to die, and are determined to let criminals take over the streets.

If you want to use incandescent light bulbs or drive a SUV, you’re a murderer of the planet. If you think the water shortage could be solved by legislating for humans instead of Delta Smelt, you’re an anti-Green, anti-environmentalist monster who wants a whole race of sardine-sized fish to become extinct.

If you shop at WalMart, you want to destroy Mom and Pop businesses in your own neighborhood. If you question the “man-made” part of Global Warming, you’re a dumb anti-intellectual with no respect for Science. And if you think the Pledge of Allegiance should still be said in our schools, you have to be a nutty, ultra right wing, reactionary Conservative Christian.

If you think taxes are way too high, you’re an unappreciative citizen who doesn’t want to pay his fair share. If you think people should work for and earn what they get, instead of sponging off those of us who do, you loathe the poor and want to rob them of their basic human rights. And finally, if you criticize your government for just about anything, you’re a downright reactionary who should move to another country where they won’t let you say anything at all.

So this is the sad state of discourse in America, today. And the once revered tool of discussion and compromise used by the Founding Fathers to hammer out our Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution, has all but died. And the ominous sound you hear these days isn’t just personal discord. It’s the beginning death rattles of a country that has somehow seemed to lose its way.