From the 1960s through the 1980s, Americans debated vigorously over whether certain policies were good or bad for our system of government, society, and the economy. When either side tried to emotionalize an issue for political gain, they were called out by the opposing candidate or the media. For example, in the 1980 presidential campaign, then-President Jimmy Carter learned how difficult it was to debate an informed and articulate challenger in Ronald Reagan. Numerous times, Carter misrepresented Reagan’s statements or positions in an emotional appeal. Each time, Reagan simply said with authority, “There he goes again.”
Today, Americans rarely talk politics with those who hold opposing views. We live and speak in emotional echo chambers. In the 1990s and early 2000s, politics began to leave the logical arena where debate could flourish, and good ideas could win out.
Now, we have emotionally based conversations where good ideas and thoughts die.
One could partially thank postmodernism and moral relativism for the rise of partisan emotionalism. Still, we can also blame the greed of all types that lends itself to political demagoguing.
Today, conservative thinking is drowned out by a charade of events following one after another. As soon as one thing hits the mainstream, another line of radical ideas follows. The result is a constant state of societal turmoil that quickly shifts political thought farther and farther to the Left at a frantic pace.
If there was ever a good example, let’s look at the last two years.
In March 2020, the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a litany of issues that were once unthinkable. Though we were all home, the rapid transition of societal, economic, and governmental change was mind-altering. Consider the following short list of things that occurred over a dizzyingly fast period of time that allowed the federal government and the Left to seize control over American’s thoughts, feelings, and lives:
- Lockdowns, shutdowns, fear of future financial stability, and growing individual dependence on the government to meet one’s personal needs.
- The police murder of George Floyd and widespread false allegations of police brutality that led to destructive riots and a call by some to defund the police.
- The rise of Black Lives Matter and a movement to label all things racism.
- Systemic problems in elections that led to a distrust of the electoral system (For example, in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, the state Supreme Courts ruled ballot boxes violated state Constitutions in 2022. Still, they allowed them in 2020 under the guise of the pandemic. In other words, they ignored their own state Constitutions over an emergency, creating distrust in the system).
- Biden administration’s devastating unwillingness to follow federal immigration laws and creating a record-high explosion of illegal immigration that states and cities are left to deal with across the country.
- Biden administration’s pursuit of enacting Green New Deal policies unilaterally and driving up gas prices that contributed to 40-year inflation highs.
- Crushing inflation that economically is devastating the lower and middle classes.
- Transgender debates about biological men competing in women’s sports, gender identity issues among children in public schools, and medical procedures that allow minors to physically change their gender.
- Woke corporations pushed a far-left agenda in the workplace and upon society.
Just one of these would have been a lot for Americans to debate in a year before the pandemic. Is it no wonder that radical thinking hijacked America and deepened divisions? With the fast pace of issues and troubles coming succinctly one after another, there wasn’t the time or the capacity to debate both sides of an issue.
At the same time, President Joe Biden has injected race into elections and insinuated falsely, along with congressional Democrats, that Republicans were insurrectionists and enemies of America and democracy. This has put conservatives on defense as they struggled to overcome the emotionally charged and false narrative.
America is no longer talking about the proper role of government or the Constitution.
How could we?
The extreme voices and actors are leading the country, and the overwhelming majority of Americans believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction. Yet, it’s hard to know what direction they really want to go. The 2020 midterms didn’t become a referendum on the merits of the Democrats’ policies or results in 2021 and 2022. Instead, the election was decided over emotional issues void of debate or reason.
Can our society or Constitution survive this?
Chaos breeds more chaos, and emotion without logic creates contempt. America is supposedly the most educated people on Earth. Yet, we react impulsively and our memories are short.
We can’t rationally talk about America’s future when considering everything going on in a short time.
Is there a solution?
These are not ordinary times. America is going through a unique moment in history. Conservatism has proven to be the best philosophy that achieves hope, opportunity, prosperity, and happiness.
Over the last forty years or more, Americans have been apathetic. Most people just wanted to be left alone to live their lives. They got up in the morning, went to work, came home, took the kids to a myriad of events, went to bed —- and did it all over again. In between, they watched television, movies, or sports to find a way to escape the struggles of everyday stress. There wasn’t time to think about conservative or liberal ideas or debate what the government was or was not doing. That was left to a small number of partisans on both sides.
In its wake, the political parties tried to appeal to voters by the simplest means possible — emotion. Some say that most voters are what’s referred to as “low information voters.” People tend to vote when they are mad or upset. They have few facts or data to support an issue, but they know how they feel. That’s why negative advertising works so well and will never go away as long as people are susceptible to it.
Still, today, some are engaging in ways not seen in decades. We have an opportunity to advance the cause of conservatism. I believe we must re-engage with society through humility, a listening ear, and persuasive and influential words. It means educating ourselves about history and its impact on the present, the Constitution, and how the economy works. Those who influence do so because they have the facts and are armed with knowledge and compassion.
Those willing to live their words earn the right to be heard and to say, “there they go again.”
Are you willing to take on the challenge?
It will be challenging in a society dominated by radical ideas and emotional upheaval. It may not happen in days, months, or years. It could be generational, one person at a time.
We must see the chaos and distractions as an opportunity to be embraced, not one to be feared.
I hope you’ll join me on the journey!
The Conservative Era, Copyright 2022
