Ever since President Biden (I was going to type "Joe Biden," but typing "President Biden" feels oh-so much better) spoke about unity at his Inauguration, that's the catch-phrase that the Republicans and press have picked up on to analyze what people want.
Honestly, I'm not so sure that "unity" is What People Want. I'm not suggesting that people are against unity -- hardly. Indeed, I think most Americans would be extremely happy if there was unity throughout the country, amid all the deep divide. But the only antidote of national division isn't that everyone is united as one, but instead that the unbending wall or rigidity comes down, so that at times there can be flexibility and openness and a willingness to occasionally compromise. In fact, I suspect that if you asked people right now what they really want in American, it wouldn't be "unity" but a vaccination for COVID-19, and getting some manner of emergency economic relief, and having health insurance and a job and a way to get children to school and being able to go to a restaurant and a movie. If people could get all of those things, I don't think most Americans would care in the slightest what the vote in Congress was. If a person could get a coronavirus vaccination, relief check and growing economy, I think most Americans would be absolutely fine with a bill that allowed for all that passing the Senate 51-49. "Unity" would be great, but far down the list. Going further, one of the big problems when "unity" is seen as The Goal you're offering is that it lets other side nitpick on every single issue by claiming that since they're against it, it isn't unifying. And it should therefore be ignored or diminished to near-nothingness. Never mind if the proposal is good and actually helps the country. If a plane crashes lost in the desert, and there are experts on board who know the way out, if some of the group doesn't have a clue and is pointing the wrong way to go, it's best not to follow them just for the sake of unity and instead listen to the people who actually know what they're doing and will get you home safely. The thing is, the American political foundation is not unity. We have a two-party system. That's not designed to create unity. It's designed to create differences that can lead to presenting those views best to find a majority or build a consensus. Liberals and conservatives will always have differences of opinion. It's the very core of being liberal and conservative. And within each side are battles for how liberal or conservative they should be. America is about the disagreement of viewpoints, based on the idea that the give-and-take and discussion and debate will create a stronger result. It's why for centuries the country took pride in being a melting pot, where different people with different backgrounds and different perspectives was not just good, but made America special in the world and stronger for the diversity of views rather than limited isolation.. Unity, of course, is important when the entire nation as one is under some manner of threat. When America is fighting a war for its survival, or in the middle of a pandemic or struggling to get out of an economic Depression, then unity is essential. Unity is important for giving a nation a common goal, say, like that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But there will always be differences in the country for how to reach those goals. And those differences are not only fine, but important. Because working through those differences to determine what's best for as many people as possible is at the core of what America is. The problem is not when people disagree what to do with the facts presented them, but when people don't accept what the facts are -- and worse, what a fact is. When they say there are "alternative facts." When they ridicule living in a "reality-based world." When they follow and enable a leader who makes 30,573 lies. When they base their decisions on what a totally anonymous "Wizard of Oz" faux-omniscient being tweets them to do. Don't look behind the curtain, just listen to whoever is -- or whoever are or whatever may be -- hidden there in total secret and is telling you something you have no way on earth of knowing is true. And the problem, further, is when there are people who perpetually act like a petulant teenager feeling obligated to defiantly do the exact opposite of whatever their parent says, even if it's "Don't drink and drive and crash your car into a crowd of innocent people." And who stomp their feet and whine and try to overthrow the government when they don't get their way because the majority has decided something else. Unity is a good thing. A very good thing. Often a great thing. Sometimes an essential thing. I do not believe it is the main thing. The main thing is getting out of desert and reaching home safely. And that requires two things: knowing how to do it and wanting to. Just being a leader without those merely for the sake of being in charge will always keep others at risk, and never create unity. Knowing what to do and actually wanting to do it are the only way to succeed. And the only way you can ever then finally create unity.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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