There is an abundance of good in this world. I feel like I need to start there because I don’t want to lose sight of that here. We have good neighbors, co-workers, friends, and family. It doesn’t take an extensive search to find acts of kindness all around us. But just as easily as you can find goodness, you can find hate. Especially in our political environment. Why is that? Why have we become so divided, so tribal, your team versus my team? It seems crazy because at the end of the day, I believe we all want similar things – on the surface! A good life – decent place to live and the ability to buy food and clothing. Those are the basics. But when we drill down on what a decent life looks like, there are things that people want for themselves that interfere with someone else’s rights and freedoms. For example the abortion divide – if you are pro-life, then it is absolutely your right NOT to have an abortion; however, if you fall on the side of choice, it should also be your right to do so. We are so deeply divided around cultural issues but all want the same thing – this good life! If all eveyone wants is a good life, where is all this hate coming from?
I believe people hate for a variety of reasons: teachings, lack of knowledge and understanding, insecurity, and above all fear. Fear of “the other.” But we are being deceived because my guess would be that most of us learn this behavior by consuming a fair amount of social media and cable television. We are being led astray for either ratings, or likes, or greed and money. We are fed what the media believe we want to hear, and we only listen to or watch what feeds our narrative and aligns with our beliefs. With social media, the algorithms also feed us what we want to know. In turn, our feeds become of a mirror of our innermost wants, needs, and desires. Unwilling to hear (or reason with) the “other” side. This is the state of our politics in this moment. Teams, sides, and culture wars. We are fed very little about the substantive things that matter – meaningful discussions about reforming our immigration policies, building up our infrastructure (highways, railways, and transit systems), tax reform, and reducing the national debt. For those extremely important issues, you have to scour a variety of news sources so as not simply digest popular topics. In this digital revolution, by design, it is easier to have it fed to us one scroll at a time or to simply rely on one news source (#MSNBC) or another (#FOX) that constantly says what we need to hear – that “the other” is wrong!
“The hate in our politics today feels so personal because it is intrinsically tied to our values and identities. If we recognized this, we might be able to step back and approach others with curiosity instead of judgment, understanding instead of misreading, or love instead of hate!
#thepersonalispolitical #politics #msnbc #foxnews #immigration #infrastructure #midterms2026 #vote #votingmatters
