Four things that are ruining American Democratic Values: Benign Neglect, The “Slippery Slope”, Tribalism & Moral Equivalency
The silent majority, the moderates, the independent thinkers need to wake up and fast!
The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” — Dr Martin Luther King Jr
Benign Neglect
The silent majority has a duty to uphold. The rich & powerful have principles to uphold. Will they honor those?
- Often financial considerations reign supreme for otherwise independent minded non-partisan folks.
- Frequently, the horse trading, the rich and influential deal in, creates an environment of looking the other way if their critical considerations are taken care of. This benign neglect of all other warning signs and flaws of a candidate that caters to a narrow segment is setting a dangerous precedent.
- Single issue & litmus test voters are a grave danger to society. They are quintessentially partisan and have a very narrowly defined interest — be they economic or social. There is a feeling amongst these that all other considerations don’t matter if their single issue is achieved.
Slippery slope
Cooperation & compromise are shunned. Absolute positions reign. Don’t yield an inch to the group with an alternative view lest they take a mile.
- “Live & let live” seems to be lost. People who are die hard proponents of a cause, idea or opinion, want to impose their will on others.
- Examples of how the slippery slope arguments are destroying our ability to live in peace and harmony are many:
- Sensible gun rights opposed by ardent supports of the 2nd amendment merely on the slippery slope argument of not yielding an inch to the other view.
- Proponents of pro-life stance cannot tolerate even a semblance of an exception due to extenuating circumstances.
- Where is religious freedom when some groups want to impose their religious symbols & practices on all others?
“Individual freedoms and rights for me but collective rights for others on my terms” is no way to unite the country.
Tribalism
Tribes and tribal attitude served us well in prehistoric times when collective benefit was paramount, when survival was predicated on looking after each other, and when the tribes were small, cohesive, with a singular focus on survival.
But those evolutionary traits have outlived their usefulness in the modern world of dispersion, diversity, individuality, & freedom. Yet our habits die hard, we are all tribal at heart.
Extreme partisanship is tribalism at its worst, and it has only gotten much worse over the last decade. There is no hope for us as a nation if we stand by the motto -”our worst guy is better than their best”.
In an unprecedented display of tribalism, it’s heartbreaking to see that the die-hards in each party cannot stand to be in the same room as their counterparts, much less have a civilized conversation.
Tribalism as applied to political party, race, religion, socioeconomic groups is making us so dysfunctional, isolated, divided and siloed. Nothing good can come of it.
Moral Equivalency
Benign neglect, slippery slope, and Tribalism that are entrenched in our psyche sets us up very nicely to be fooled by the fallacy of moral equivalency arguments.
Not everything that is good is equally good, and not everything that is bad is equally bad. There are gradations and critical nuances. There are fatal flaws and little flaws, there are major transgressions and minor ones.
Of course, all these gradations and subtleties are entirely lost under the weight of extreme partisanship. Common sense is thrown out the door. Collective destruction is preferable to admitting that our guy may be worse than theirs on fundamental and critical “fitness for office” test.
Conclusion
Our democratic values are precious and must be preserved at all costs. Despite our uniquely individualistic and freedom loving nature, there nevertheless comes a time when we must sacrifice a bit of individual freedom for the collective good of our entire country. There is a time to be selfish and there is a time to be magnanimous. Knowing the difference is critical to preserving our collective sanity and our democracy.
