Why is it that people can often be so quick to categorize? Humans are very unique creatures, and any attempt to corral them into particular sets is always imperfect at best and usually counterproductive.
I particularly despise the “left wing” vs. “right wing” labels, despite their common use in today’s vernacular. How I feel about one particular issue has no bearing on how I feel about another unrelated (or even semi-related) issue. I am a person who is capable of forming his own opinions and feel no need to subscribe to a “party line” and have my opinions fed to me by whoever may lead such a party. I realize that many of the American people (on both “sides” of the political isle) seem to vote that way, but that’s a flaw in the system in my opinion. Actually, it’s a flaw of the people in the system who are too lazy to change it, but I don’t want to get into an anarchy rant at the moment.
I am sad to say that I see this constantly in discussions I have on any issue that is even marginally political, or even issues that I don’t consider to be political issues at all, like our nation’s actions in Iraq. Because many (certainly not all) of my opinions may fall to the “left” (for example), does not mean that launching into a tirade about Bill and Hillary (or “liberals” in general) is somehow therefore automatically relevant to the discussion, but it always seems to go there nonetheless, instead of sticking to the issue at hand.
What I really don’t like about this is how it seems to defeat any efforts to make progress on a lot of issues. “Right wing” groups and organizations as well as “left wing” ones (perhaps even more so on the “left”, I will admit) often have a core set of “values” or positions that they adhere to, and are unwilling to embrace or cooperate with anyone who does not sign up for all the items on the list. This is truly unfortunate, since I think there is an opportunity for a lot more progress to be made by striving to find common ground rather than dividing lines.
The abortion issue is a perfect example. If you could somehow magically calm everyone down and have a rational discussion, you’d probably find that most people (on either side of the issue) would agree that working towards women having fewer abortions would generally good thing; obviously one side would favor this, but many organizations like Planned Parenthood also clearly state that their goal is to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies, listing abortion as a last resort among many.
But instead, we (as a culture/race) seem to insist on coming up with phrases like “pro-choice” (implying anti-choice opposition), “pro-life” (implying anti-life opposition), “baby killer”, etc., etc., that effectively destroys any hope for progress. While claiming to be “fighting for the lives of the unborn”, people will refuse to consider any approaches (even ones proven to work in other countries) such as education and birth control options which don’t fit into their dogmatic, narrow-minded view of “the solution”. Similarly, those who “fight for the freedom of choice” will often refuse to consider the fact that no one can really even define life, much less when it actually begins, and that it might be wise to err on the side of preserving it, whether it may be there or not, since it is impossible to know, and that if life is or may be present then perhaps that “choice” is not so clear cut.
The unfortunate reality is that *real* solutions to such problems are very complicated and difficult, unable to be accurately described on a piece of cardboard attached to a stick held by a shouting, closed-minded person. They also usually involve some degree of compromise from both “sides” if they are ever to be successful. It’s just so much easier to name call, and talk about how the [insert derogatory political group label here] are so screwed up.
