Respecting the Importance of the Issue Itself

This week… wading back into the pool of jarring political headlines after the holiday break, it’s easy to get pulled into the outrage and lose sight of the fact that depolarizing is not about “turning the other cheek.” It’s about actually respecting the importance, not of your opponent, but of the argument—the issue—itself. Polarization turns a disciplined boxing match into a no-holds-barred brawl. Politics, if course, is no game. It’s more important than a game. It is the life-and-death process of building civilization. And yes, a short-term victory might be scored by viciously hitting below the belt rather than playing by the rules…or shouting names rather than rationally dissecting arguments. I’ll admit it’s not easy to play by the rules when the other side comes out again and again with cheap shots and low blows. But sucker punching is not the art and discipline of serious boxing, just as name calling is not the civil discourse of serious politics. And though you might gain a quick advantage by fighting back “in kind,” in the long term it means they’ve won because you’ve let them change the rules…and destroy the game. So try to curb the impulse to fist-pump when “your side” lands a nasty blow. Because forsaking the rules of the civil discourse of politics, means you lose. We all do. 

When reading these examples, check the above list and ask yourself: regardless of whether you agree or disagree, is this really advancing an intelligent resolution through the persuasive, rational arguments of advocacy…or simply fueling the fire of conflict through the divisive, emotional manipulations of polarization?

Here are some of the week’s most polarizing articles, from the left and right: