It's not always easy coming to a decision in a family. Nevertheless, decisions do get made. And often, in families that genuinely care for each other, those decisions are weighed with the considerations of everyone who is part of the family, and a plan of action is implemented that benefits the family as a whole.
In our churches, our communities, and other local groups, we go through the same process. We work together to resolve problems, and present practical solutions that are as inclusive as possible. It's not always easy. Sometimes even in churches where all worship the same God and hold the same articles of faith, there can be unexpected conflicts and divisions. But, ideally, we weigh them out, and in the healthiest organizations, those solutions will enhance their growth and strengthen their unity.
Like it or not, these decisions that are made are political ones. Politics is not a dirty word. It's how we resolve problems that face us, and allow us to move forward. Politics is a way of making decisions that apply to all the members of a group. Without politics, there is chaos. Without politics, there is only brute force. Without politics, social Darwinism is given free reign.
It seems nowadays, the higher you go up the political food chain, the greater the resistance to working towards common solutions. We have grown to where the political parties have taken on almost tribal qualities, and the last thing they want to do is to be seen compromising with each other. It becomes more important to demonize your opponent than it is to work with them to benefit the whole.
It doesn't help that politics is not a zero sum game. Every change results in winners and losers. That is inevitable when you try to solve problems. If you gain green jobs, you may lose coal jobs. If you universalize health care, you may create rationing and you will definitely devastate jobs in the sectors that profiteer off of health care, like the private insurance industry. If you support one Mid-East country, you may destabilize other countries. If you spend more, you may have to tax more in order to pay for it, and all taxes are not created equal, so one group may have to pay more than the other. If you raise tariffs to even the economic playing field, you may be damaging the ability of the country to sell products abroad.
That doesn't mean solutions to problems shouldn't be attempted. But they do require thought and compromise. Sometimes, to balance everything, legislation may look like a Rube Goldberg contraption. It's not a help, though, that our major political parties are more interested in dominating the other than in solutions that help the American people. It doesn't help when the voting populace deliberately selects people who are pledged not to compromise with each other.
Our system's genius is being founded on the principle of checks and balances. But that does not mean permanent gridlock. The checks and balances are there to prevent extremists and autocrats from controlling our government processes. And it is also there to prevent majority mob rule from crushing the rights of minorities. It is not there so we blithely watch our infrastructure crumble around us, paralyzed in our attempts to do anything about it. It is not there to see millions of Americans have inadequate health care, with the major rationing mechanisms being who your employer is, or how much money you have. It is not there to do nothing about issues like background checks, which the overwhelming majority of citizens want, to instead be mired in a special interest toxic stew.
We all have our interests and ideology we want to defend. There's nothing wrong with that. That's what politics is for. But we need to start valuing politicians who are willing to work with each other to get things done. We have serious problems in this country that can no longer continue to fester. We need a more civil tone from our politicians, and from the citizens that vote for them.
We are Americans. We are one family, one community, one civic faith. Just like your own family, church, and community, not everyone is going to get everything they want. But something has to be done, and it needs to be done in a way that benefits everyone as much as possible, and distributes the negative effects of necessary change as fairly and as broadly as possible.
We have serious problems in our nation and our world that must be faced up to. Let us do it together, in the spirit of cooperation and compromise. That is the way to make America truly great again.
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