By The Herald Editorial Board
Along with watching some football, the first day of the year is given to weighing the past year’s accomplishments and regrets (and weighing ourselves, for those of us who could stand to lose a few pounds) and considering what we want to get done in the new year and what changes we want to make in our lives.
After 2016, one resolution we could make is to change how we relate to each other regarding political and societal issues.
Last year’s elections, particularly the presidential campaign, in the minds of many left the nation even more divided than ever, unable to agree on a range of issues and too often questioning the motives of those on the other side.
Joel Mathis, who with his friend and fellow writer Ben Boychuk have written the RedBlueAmerica columns that the Herald runs regularly, notes in this week’s column on Page B7 that this is their final commentary. The two friends started the column nine years ago, approaching a particular issue each week from different political leanings — Mathis from the liberal and Boychuk from the conservative — hoping to show that there was common ground between the two poles.
They often disagreed, but demonstrated how to talk it out, work toward an understanding of the other’s position and seek solutions acceptable to each.
Neither is convinced they’ve made an impression, which is one reason they’re hanging it up.
Writes Mathis: “America is more polarized today than it was nine years ago, and each and every one of us, it seems, believes everybody else is evil and acting in bad faith — deserving of the back of the hand, or maybe just a middle finger.”
Many put the blame on the “echo chambers” that we have locked ourselves in, the social media feeds and news and information diets that run the gamut from A to B. We seek out the opinions and facts that fit our view of the world and ignore anything that might challenge our beliefs.
The results of a recent YouGov survey seem to confirm those suspicions. The online opinion forum recently asked those who identified as having voted either for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton whether they believed or didn’t believe in specific controversial claims in the news.
Asked about the bogus “pizzagate” scandal that alleged that Clinton campaign officials were involved in a pedophilia ring run from the basement of a Washington, D.C., pizza parlor, 53 percent of Trump voters said they believed the outrageous rumors.
Clinton voters weren’t immune to conspiracy theories either. Building upon reports that Russia hacked Democratic National Committee emails, many Clinton voters took the conspiracy even further, with half believing that Russia had actually tampered with ballots to help Trump win the election, something that U.S. intelligence officials have never alleged.
Are that many truly taken in by conspiracy theories that are as incredible as believing that we never landed on the moon or that 9/11 was an inside job?
What’s at play here? Are some answering surveys not so much as to how they truly believe but instead how they think their response should fit their party identity?
It may be more than simple misinformation. Asked about two bogus conspiracies that aren’t routinely viewed as partisan — that vaccines have been shown to cause autism and that the U.S. government was in on the 9/11 attacks — both Clinton and Trump camps answered with similar and relatively high levels of disbelief.
For this nation to continue as a democracy that seeks the best for its citizens, we can’t continue to live in the soundproof and insular camps that we have built for ourselves.
Resolving that we will seek out and consider opinions and perspectives we don’t agree with doesn’t mean we have to stifle our beliefs or stop trying to persuade others to understand what we’re saying.
It requires that we listen, make an effort to understand and not unreasonably question the motives of those with whom we disagree.
On the day after the election, we challenged ourselves and our readers not to gloat or whine over the results, but to work together:
“We have chosen our leaders. Now our responsibility is to keep them on task, focused on resolving the issues we elected them to address. We can do that by setting a good example for them.”
That’s our resolution for 2017: Listen, consider and look for the common ground.
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