George Rebane
As we enter the home stretch of this election season, with both sides agreeing that this is the election to prevent the other side from taking the nation down the road to terminal evil, we still hear some good-hearted and/or dim-witted public figures hopefully assuring us that ‘there is more that unites us than that which separates us.’
Four years ago during our last presidential election year the same shibboleth was heard across the land, and we all know how the 2020 election united Americans and left us with a four-year bitter taste as one after another of our institutions were shown to have surreptitiously put their politically biased thumbs on the scale of a democratic election. After a four-year downward spiral we find ourselves having come around and again trying to reach for the golden ring.
During the summer of 2020 I decided to take a more measured look at the things our polarized citizenry holds in common and compare them with the things that irredeemably separate us. I summarized my findings in the 1aug20 post titled ‘E Pluribus Unum – Really? Still?’ (here). So let’s reprise the inventory of the salient things in question.
- We’re all Homo sapiens;
- We co-habit within the same borders;
- We drive mostly same kind of cars;
- We eat mostly same foods;
- We breathe the same air;
- We dress similarly;
- We enjoy same sports (mostly);
- We vote in the same elections;
- We use the same currency.
The things that divide us –
- Language
- History
- Organization of society/economy (capitalist, collectivist, elitist, …)
- Governance (role of nation-state, democracy, …)
- Rights and Privileges (the armed citizen, Bastiat triangle of rights, voting, …)
- Free speech
- State of the nation (racist, imperialist, shining city on a hill, …)
- Role of government (guarantor of freedoms, national security, economic security, …)
- Role of education (trained/competitive workforce, common history and traditions, social contract, …)
- Role of media (news, sports, entertainment, maintain common culture and currency, …)
- America’s future (sovereignty, globalism)
- Nature of Man (sexual diversity, gender identification, …)
- Values (family, parenting, traditions, risk tolerance, …)
- Ethics (racism, discrimination, equality, prejudice, …)
- Individual Responsibility
- National Sovereignty
- Religion
- Understanding of science
- Awareness of current events
- Patriotism (role of sacrosanct national totems, willing to defend, …)
- Foreign Policy (world hegemon)
- Logical thinking
- National security (military, borders)
- Private property (ownership, disposition, heritance, housing, …)
- Wealth and Income (taxes, merit, enforced equality, …)
In conclusion I wrote - The only way that I can see healing such a devastating ideological breach is through education. That requires the replacement of legions of incompetent socialist union shills with qualified teachers. Even then it would take at least two generations to repair the damage. And that is not going to happen. So, given the Democrats’ most recent Great Leap Leftward, there is no palpable or plausible means that this polarization will cease, and we again become a more cohesive and unified people who can peacefully and productively live in one land.
To be more specific about the things that divide us, and therefore be able to assess the likelihood of finding common ground, I expand on each of the 25 points in a pdf you can download here. It would gladden my heart if any reader can supply a hopeful response and mitigate my dire and merciless interpretations of the country’s socio-political landscape.
Things that go together:
Laurel and Hardy
Stiller and Meara
Burton and Taylor
Simon and Garfunkel
Penn and Teller
Lewis and Martin
CHEECH AND CHONG !!!
Together again on Bill Maher's Club Random podcast, beating Chong's original estimate of when Hell freezes over.
Back to GR's lead, Education is broken in the US. We need to rip teacher certification authority from the state; it belongs to colleges, and anyone with a credible degree from a credible college should be able to teach in a public school without a seal of approval from a Marxian Education department.
Posted by: Gregory | 07 October 2024 at 10:00 AM
George...
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ef/79/9e/ef799e158cd990bcb12910fdf0be8f3a.jpg
Posted by: Gregory | 07 October 2024 at 10:49 AM
"Education is broken in the US" - yep, big time.
"anyone with a credible degree from a credible college"
Nice idea but you know it becomes an endless court battle as to what is "credible'.
Evergreen State - hello?
I don't know if it would be feasible, but I would suggest each state can set up their own multi-day test geared to what age level a person wants to teach and in the higher grades geared more heavily towards the subject they would be allowed to teach. It would be written and oral. It would be expensive to set up and then of course the wrong people would always end up doing well and certain folk from "underserved communities" would not. Tough shit. Anyone could apply for the test even if they have no diplomas of any kind. Some diplomas still mean something and some now don't mean a thing. I know - pie-in-the-sky...
But we really do need something better than what we have. It was crap in CA decades ago when our daughter came face to face with just how worthless it was when she started student teaching. Zero discipline in the class room as well as psycho teachers and admin.
She bailed.
Posted by: Scott O | 07 October 2024 at 05:08 PM
Right now, a degree from Harvey Mudd, be it math, chemistry, physics, engineering or computer science, counts less than that Evergreen paper when it comes to teaching K-14.
It really isn't that difficult to fathom, and a state test dreamed up by the rocket scientists at the State dept of Ed will be no better than nothing. Accreditation of the college is what colleges are set up to do.
Posted by: Gregory | 07 October 2024 at 05:48 PM
"Accreditation of the college is what colleges are set up to do."
Yes - that's the aim, but sadly some colleges are lunatic asylums run by left-wing zealots.
Every time some one runs a general knowledge test past a sample of college grads, the results are abysmal.
Posted by: Scott O | 07 October 2024 at 06:10 PM
State functionaries are not the ones to be developing competency tests.
Lunatic asylums should lose those accreditations.
Posted by: Gregory | 07 October 2024 at 06:13 PM
Nope.
"Things that divide us" are only the things that divide you, Trump, MAGA et al.
The 'things' on your list are merely things that are different than you.
It's your problem if you cannot handle someone who speaks a different language.
Posted by: Eulogized Hillbilly | 07 October 2024 at 06:55 PM
@655 You mean like your candidate the hyena? What language does she speak? LOL
;-)
Posted by: Don Bessee | 07 October 2024 at 07:38 PM
Hillbilly - "It's your problem if you cannot handle someone who speaks a different language."
Really dude? Is this the level you operate at all the time?
None of us has a "problem" with people merely because they speak a different language.
George is trying to engage with folks here at an adult level. It's pretty clear it's way past your bedtime.
Posted by: Scott O | 07 October 2024 at 09:05 PM
Hillbilly 655pm - You and yours speak a different language than do I and mine. It appears that this blog may be a bit difficult for you.
Posted by: George Rebane | 07 October 2024 at 09:24 PM
And reinforcing my 738 -
Artless Dodger: Harris Flustered in Substance-Free 60 Minutes Interview
'Details are yet to be defined'
Andrew Stiles and Thaleigha Rampersad
October 7, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris went on 60 Minutes and attempted to answer some of the toughest questions she's faced—a low bar—since taking over the Democratic nomination from 81-year-old Joe Biden, who is technically still the president. She was meandering and evasive throughout the interview with Bill Whitaker of CBS News, who had to politely repeat the question on several occasions. There's no telling how confounding Harris's answers must have been in real time. The network's producers saw fit to liberally (and sloppily) edit the conversation. They included a considerable amount of overdubbed editorializing from Whitaker, as if he were translating Harris's remarks into basic English.
https://freebeacon.com/author/stiles/biden-harris-administration/artless-dodger-harris-flustered-in-substance-free-60-minutes-interview/
;-)
Posted by: Don Bessee | 07 October 2024 at 09:52 PM
Total BS!
Those so called divisions only occur in an ossified cranium where everything is seen as black and white.
I still stand by my claim that those are differences, not necessarily divisions.
Posted by: Eulogized Hillbilly | 08 October 2024 at 06:14 AM
Hillbilly - "Those so called divisions only occur in an ossified cranium where everything is seen as black and white."
OK - should the fed govt be "forgiving" student loans wholesale as Biden has been doing?
Is a fetus in a human woman a human life?
Now - don't be dividing us, bro.
Posted by: Scott O | 08 October 2024 at 07:56 AM
Blue wave is coming on. Harris leads in every general poll except one.
https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/general/2024/trump-vs-harris
Posted by: Paul Emery | 08 October 2024 at 08:11 AM
Hillbilly 614am - Well now, we may be on the verge of having a real conversation with you if you can give us your definitions for 'differences' and 'divisions'. Reading yours, I will reciprocate.
Posted by: George Rebane | 08 October 2024 at 09:32 AM
If Jeff P wanted a real conversation, he'd not be hiding behind that silly nom d'net.
Posted by: Gregory | 08 October 2024 at 10:44 AM
George. Your list of what unites us are simply things we do. The division list of items are the things that determine worldview and ideology. Worldviews can be regional and can overlay separate political boundaries similar to how the Jewry was a society within a society prior to Hitler. Hitler used the different worldviews to blame the Jews for WWI and its aftermath among those who shared hitler’s ideology and demonized Jews until Hitler got 30 something percent of the vote. Hitler didn’t need more than 50% of any vote in order to take power because generally speaking in society half of the people just go along to get along and don’t get involved in these cultural and ideological battles. Authoritarians use ideology to whip up a minority crowd of disaffected individuals for purposes of imposition of its ideology. Authoritarians also use censorship and threats violence to keep the 50% inline. Authoritarians know that they can never convince the other 20% so they kill them. Time after time. Ideology is very dangerous and often warps away from the truth. If our society strives for anything other than Truth (big T) eventually the mob who strives for untruth erases the common history and ends up murdering the other group.
Lessons learned from early modern Europe until today.
Posted by: Barry Pruett | 08 October 2024 at 11:20 AM
Can’t find Truth without much contemplation, massive amounts of reading, and most importantly, humility.
Posted by: Barry Pruett | 08 October 2024 at 11:22 AM
Eulogized Hillbilly at 06:14 AM: "Those so-called divisions only occur in an ossified cranium where everything is seen as black and white." Indeed.
Posted by: Barry Pruett | 08 October 2024 at 11:35 AM
Jeff's ossified cranium supports the winning v. losing dichotomy.
Posted by: Gregory | 08 October 2024 at 11:40 AM
Barry - "...are the things that determine worldview and ideology."
Maybe. I think world view and ideology more often lead to one's specific opinions and actions as they relate to what divides us. They will intertwine to an extent.
There have been numerous studies on personality types of conservatives vs left wingers.
A lot of the hyper division these days comes from the left's headlong rush into insanity.
Only a decade ago, Dems and Rs would totally agree a grown man has no business waving his junk around in a locker room full of underage girls. He would be arrested. A pervert. Now look where we are. The Dems have "progressed" into outer space telling us he's allowed to because he "identifies" as a woman.
Posted by: Scott O | 08 October 2024 at 12:03 PM
While waiting for Hillbilly's response to my 932am. As longtime readers may remember, I continue to define and use 'ideology' in the formal sense as "n. A structured and communicable belief system that in its best expression is composed of tenets defendable by and malleable to reason. Ideologue – a person who is willing to communicate his ideology." (cf. RR Glossary) Its current unthinking use as a pejoriative is another example in the decline of our once beautiful language.
Barry 1120am - "Your list of what unites us are simply things we do." Indeed, and so it was simply meant to be. Starting with VDH, I have yet to find anyone who can point to ideological tenets whose definitions we share and practice in common - i.e. tenets that unite us. The tenets that divide us are easy to list and understand.
Posted by: George Rebane | 08 October 2024 at 12:35 PM
"The tenets that divide us are easy to list and understand." Exactly. Importantly, these dividing tenents are the very tenets authoritarians use to divide and conquer...
Posted by: Barry Pruett | 09 October 2024 at 12:18 PM
The so-called Bastiat Triangle should be dropped. Not an issue for 99 and 44/100% of folks in the USA.
In the US, the issue is (thanks to Locke) Life, Liberty and property or via Jefferson, the equivalent Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Posted by: Gregory | 16 October 2024 at 12:30 PM
The so-called Bastiat Triangle should be dropped. Not an issue for 99 and 44/100% of folks in the USA.
In the US, the issue is (thanks to Locke) Life, Liberty and property or via Jefferson, the equivalent Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Posted by: Gregory | 16 October 2024 at 12:47 PM
Awfully funny how creepy grampa joe / hyena admin always revise figures from the rosy first announcement and the fool from abc fact checking Trump now has egg on his face. Those of us who pay attention knew the report omitted data for the biggest crime cities. LOL -
FBI quietly updates crime data to show big jump in violence under Biden-Harris admin: 'Shocking'
A 2.1% drop in violent crimes in 2022 has now been revised to show a 4.5% increase, crime and data expert John Lott found
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fbi-quietly-updates-crime-data-show-big-jump-violence-under-biden-harris-admin-shocking
;-)
Posted by: Don Bessee | 16 October 2024 at 01:49 PM
Gregory 1230pm - totally disagree; your citations are an insufficient basis for the expansion rights e.g. as in the Constitution.
Posted by: George Rebane | 16 October 2024 at 10:39 PM
And yet it will not generate another vote Michigan. LOL
https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2024/10/16/bret-baier-why-did-you-fund-iran-kamala-lets-go-back-to-donald-trump/
;-)
Posted by: Don Bessee | 16 October 2024 at 11:19 PM
George, your word salad in response is noted.
Bastiat is a non-entity as far as our Constitution is concerned... we have Locke and Jefferson to thank.
Posted by: Gregory | 17 October 2024 at 10:35 AM
Gregory 1035am - "word salad"??! You sure know how to make friends and influence people.
Bastiat wasn't even born when the Constitution was framed. That has no impact on his being able to deduce the minimal (necessary and sufficient) set of rights that can be shown to be the logical progenitors of those expanded in the Constitution. Such 'after the fact' condensations into simpler and more elegant forms are common throughout the history of science and engineering.
Posted by: George Rebane | 17 October 2024 at 01:36 PM
"totally disagree; your citations are an insufficient basis for the expansion rights e.g. as in the Constitution."
Your word salad, sir.
The formulation that Locke had was Life, Liberty and property in the 2nd Treatise, and Jefferson had Life, Liberty and the persuit of happiness in our Declaration of Independence.
That's essentially the same as the "Bastiat Triangle".
But at Rebane's... only Bastiat is mentioned.
Posted by: Gregory | 17 October 2024 at 02:04 PM