Emotionally Fractured: There's an argument to be made that our culture needs some anger management classes - or at least our political culture:
When one party's chairman calls the other party 'criminal' (as one actually did recently, and the other might before this page goes to press), he is hoping to pull people to the fringe where they will be reliable voters. There is some evidence that this tactic is working: The percentage of people willing to say they are 'extremely liberal' or 'extremely conservative' is higher than it has been in over 30 years. And the data tell us that the people with these strong views often display a disturbing lack of compassion and ethics in their personal relations. As such, angry politics may be spilling over into our broader culture.
Is calling someone who did, in fact, break the law, a sign of undo anger? What our culture needs is not anger management but a little dose of calling a spade a spade.
ReplyDeleteBoth parties are equally guilty of poisoning the well of the public discourse. Maybe that is why we cannot have a rational policy debate on health care.
ReplyDeleteBut some are bucking this sorry trend: Health System Reform: A New Hope