Below is an article written and originally posted by ChangeRoots that I wanted to share with my readers given the times we live in, where toxic partisanship has reach an all time high in America and which has been profoundly problematic in almost all nations all throughout civilized history. In it, you’ll find many words of wisdom and truths, along with many possible solutions as to how we might greatly minimize unhealthy levels of toxic partisanship, which is currently inhibiting the functionality and progress of most nations where parties are allowed to form, if we’re willing.
I remember reading in my Constitution college course that President George Washington worried and warned about the dangers of allowing different political parties to form and grow early on during the birth of the United States of America. In fact, he wanted to find a way to do away with political parties altogether. So the potential problems of partisanship were well known and debated among the American Founding Fathers, but no definite solutions ever surfaced, or at least not that I recall.
I believe political parties, to some degree, will always exist. Fortunately as well as unfortunately, there will always be different schools of thought, different points-of-views, different groups, clubs, teams, tribes, and yes, parties. Parties can have their good sides and can help make positive changes in the world, but they can also present problems, become unyielding, uncompromising, and will at times need to be reined in and tempered, and should never be allowed to become too powerful. My own personal recommendations for reducing toxic partisanship in any country is for “we the people” to strive to the best of our ability to adequately educate one another, using multiple reliable sources, along with comparable, measurable, statistical evidence, and to get big money out of politics. Read the article, below, by ChangeRoots to gain some more insights on this well deserved and needed topic to see what you think.
“The Time Has Come To Take Toxic Partisanship Head On
Things are f — ed up
- Toxic partisans have contempt for those in the other party, insult them, won’t listen to ideas outside their party, refuse to compromise and put their own interests over the country.
- We estimate three-quarters of elected officials are toxic partisans while only one-third of regular people display these characteristics.
- Toxic partisanship leads to zero-sum thinking, revenge politics and gridlock.
- If we don’t reverse toxic partisanship things will get worse.
But…we’ve got a plan
- Educate: We teach people about what toxic partisanship looks like in real life by translating dense research into easily digestible content.
- Identify: We identify toxic partisans by using public to score elected officials on a partisan scale.
- Empower: We discourage toxic behavior by enabling people to micro fund those running against toxic partisans
- Connect: We connect leaders and voters who share post partisan values to power up the movement.
- Enjoy: We design the app as a game to maximize delight.
Tell me more about this toxic partisanship thing
You’ve seen it, you’ve felt it. You can detect a toxic partisan by the way they speak and by the way they act. . . .”
