How do We Realign Our Polarized Country?

It almost sounds impossible, doesn’t it?

Realigning a country that has been politically fractured by the presidential election seems like an insurmountable challenge. We have had deep divisions along religious, racial, and cultural lines.

There were riotous protests in the streets. There are racist-inspired attacks. There were people getting beaten up for the simple fact that they didn’t vote the “right” way.

If we don’t do something about it, I fear things will just get worse. We will become more fractured as a nation. Tensions will continue to rise until things boil over into something devastatingly ugly.

This polarization thing isn’t going to work itself out, right?

As a nation, we need to overcome the obstacles that are making it harder for us to talk to one another. In my estimation, there are three primary obstacles that are keeping us from moving forward after this divisive election. This post is about how we can overcome these obstacles and move on.

No More Alarmism

One of the biggest contributors to our country’s polarization is the media. I’m not just saying this because I’m a conservative. I’m saying it because it’s true.

It’s the media’s job to make us afraid. They take a grain of truth, then blow it up into a terrifying spectacle that has us all afraid and suspicious of each other.

It’s horrible. And it’s tearing us apart.

Here’s a statement that may shock you…Donald Trump isn’t going to destroy the United States. No really, he’s not!

The President-elect is not going to round up all Mexicans and send them back to Mexico. He’s not going to send the police into black neighborhoods to start shooting them. He’s not going to run around grabbing women by the ____. He’s not going to make Muslims wear badges. He’s not going to turn our country into Nazi Germany.

Donald Trump is not Hitler.

Here’s the reality, even if he wanted to do these things, he couldn’t. The President’s power isn’t unlimited. We have checks and balances in place that will prevent this type of abuse of power. In short, we don’t need to be afraid of these things because it’s highly unlikely that they will happen.

Does this mean he’ll be a great president? I’m doubtful of that. I was not a Trump supporter, but I am willing to give him a chance to prove me wrong. Hopefully he will.

I had the same approach towards Obama. I would have had the same approach with Hillary Clinton. The bottom line is this: we can’t afford to live in fear. If we’re going to realign as a nation, we need to stop becoming victims of the media’s fearmongering.

Of course, I can’t blame it all on the media. They don’t deserve 100% of the blame. There’s plenty of ordinary folks spreading fear using social media. I’m seeing posts from people who are freaking out because they think that white supremacists are going to take over. I’ve seen posts from people who think Trump is going to further the alt-right’s agenda.

Then, there’s the fake news. Both sides are using fake news to scare us into believing what they want us to believe. It’s like the media and these Facebook alarmists have us trapped in the Matrix and we’re struggling to wake up and see what reality actually is.

And it’s hurting us.

If we are going to realign, it’s important that we stop believing the hype. It’s important that we tell our children that they will be okay. We need to think critically about the news we receive instead of just accepting it. We must be able to debate and discuss the issues rationally, without being motivated by fear.

Stop Demonizing Each Other

Trump voters are vicious racists who want to send their stormtroopers in and kick minorities out of the country. Clinton supporters are whiny socialists who don’t know how to lose.

Do any of these sound familiar?

If you’re watching the news and hanging out on Facebook, the answer is probably “yes.”

Here’s what I see happening: One side will point out a small group of people on the other side who are deplorable, and then make it sound as if everyone on that side is just like them.

Just look at the accusations of racism being leveled against people who supported Trump. Many on the left are calling these people racist bigots because they voted for Trump.

They’re painting them as people who are okay with racism. But the reality is that most of the people who voted for Trump did so for reasons that have nothing to do with race. Believe it or not, race isn’t on the forefront of everyone’s minds.

I mean, seriously, do you really think that when conservatives pulled the lever for Trump, they were thinking “Finally! We will have a bigoted president who will get rid of all the minorities!”

It’s doubtful. The vast majority of Trump voters voted for him because…

• The 2nd amendment.
• The Supreme Court.
• Foreign policy.
• He wasn’t as bad as Hillary.

I doubt that race was even on their minds. The idea that the majority of Trump voters are bigoted is absurd. Now, you may not agree with any of the reasons listed.

That’s understandable. But it’s not productive to just label these people as racist just because it’s politically expedient. As a matter of fact, some would argue that it was false accusations of racism such as these that got Donald Trump elected in the first place.

Then, there’s those on the right. Many on the right who condemned the riots and rightly so. The problem is that they make it seem as if most liberals agree with the actions of these people.

They don’t.

Most liberals weren’t rioting. As a matter of fact, most of the protests have been peaceful. We may not agree with them, but they’re exercising their rights without hurting anyone.

This demonization is happening on both sides. Both conservatives and liberals are making their counterparts across the aisle sound like evil mutants who want nothing more than to destroy our way of life.

But it isn’t true, is it?

Moving forward means refusing to fall into this behavior. It means we have to see the truth: that we all want this country to move in the right direction. We just don’t always agree on how to accomplish this.

We need to understand that decent people can disagree with one another without either of them being evil or stupid. There’s no way we can have true dialogue if we can’t even see those who disagree with us as decent human beings.

Take The Time To Listen

You know that saying about having two ears and one mouth? Of course you do. Well, it applies to our country too.

The reason alarmism and demonization are so harmful is because they hinder our ability to listen to each other. They make it impossible for true dialogue to take place. It’s tragic, because much of the animosity we feel is a result of a failure to hear what the other side is saying.

The United States is made up of many different types of people. There are people of different cultures, religions, and political beliefs. There are tons of valid grievances that each group has. And we all want solutions.

If we take the time to listen and discuss the issues we’re facing, we will have a much better chance of coming up with real solutions. Sure, we are going to disagree. We are going to argue. It may even get heated.

That’s unavoidable. But it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Disagreements can help us create solutions that will benefit all of us. But this can only happen if we’re willing to listen.

Conclusion

When 9/11 happened, our country went through one of the most soul-crushing traumas we had ever experienced. We were hit hard, weren’t we? There was confusion. There was fear. There was uncertainty.

And what did we do?

We pulled together. We worked to become stronger. We had our differences, but these differences didn’t keep us from uniting.

This election has been hard on all of us.

It’s exposed feelings and attitudes that we thought were nonexistent. But we can still move forward. Our country has been through much harder than this.

But it’s only going to happen if we do the work necessary to heal the wounds. .

Instead of demonizing entire groups of people, try understanding where they’re coming from. Don’t blame the entire group for the actions of a few.

When you see someone post a point of view online that you disagree with, assume that they’re decent people with an opinion that is different from yours. There’s no reason to believe that they have bad motives.

Don’t let the media or anyone else make you afraid. When you hear that apocalyptic report given by another partisan pundit, think critically about what that person is saying.

Finally, let’s open our ears. Let’s try to find out if there’s some commonality that we can work with. This is one of the ways our country was made great in the first place. There was never a time in our history where everyone agreed on everything.

The election’s over. Let’s move forward, America.