"A house divided against itself cannot stand." "If we do not stand together, we will fall apart." "Disagreements don't cause disunity, lack of forgiveness does." “When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.” “All for one and one for all, united we stand divided we fall.”
These quotes are, admittedly, all cliché, yet they are also true. Right now, we don't have two parties that disagree on how to administrate America, we have two parties that want completely different Americas. Things that the other side holds precious and dear are rejected by the other side entirely, and what I'm going to catalogue for you today will likely anger you, even though you already likely know it to be true.
Here's the reality, this election has shattered the echo chambers and glass bubbles that people have been living in. Conservatives have always believed in the "moral majority" and that most of the country agrees with them and are just silent about it. Liberals have always believed in the superiority of their ideas and world views, and they believe that the majority of the country agrees with them, just not as militantly.
Both sides learned in this election what I've been saying, and being crucified by both sides for, all along. About half of the country disagrees with you, no matter what side you're on, and they don't just disagree, they'll do ANYTHING to keep your vision of America from coming true. That includes supporting the bombastic Donald Trump or the corrupt Joe Biden. "ANYONE, so long as they'll keep or make America into what I want it to be."
But what do those world views look like?
This is just a short list that I created, and it is not intended to be all inclusive. It is, however, intended to give you a basic overview of what the other side believes when they say, "America."
Conservatives will say that Liberal America isn't America, because it's different from what it traditionally has been. Liberals will say that Conservative America is a relic of the past and that they aren't living in "Modern America." The two are diametrically opposed, and as this election shows, about half of the country agrees with one and about half agree with the other... even if they lack the political awareness to understand that this is ultimately the full extent of what they're supporting.
I'm not going to lie to you, I don't see a way to bridge it. I'm open to new ideas, but I can tell you, "making" the other side see it your way hasn't worked, and it likely won't work moving forward either. The more we retreat back into our echo chambers and staunch world views, the more we will further this divide and flee from one another.
I hope, if nothing else, this election has smashed, cast to the wind, and utterly destroyed your idea that "the majority of America" agrees with you. It's not true, and if it ever was, it hasn't been since around 1960. This is why half the country protests when the other side wins, because the other side is completely opposed to what they believe.
Normally, I try to offer a solution, but there is no "solution." So, instead I'm going to try something different, I'm going to just leave it hanging. That's right, I'm going to leave you to your own thoughts and contemplations. Allow you to come to terms with the truth. And what is that truth? You are not in the majority. Half of the country fundamentally disagrees with you. Your worldview is not the dominate one.
Hopefully this election has proven that to us if nothing else.
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