Luxury of Being Right

I have been Yang Gang 2020/Forward Party since about 1994, politically associating with the Technocracy Inc. movement. I was raised conservative and can still see things from that perspective. Though my Yang Gang views are now considered moderate left, when I was in college they were considered far left anarchist.

One of the problems facing USA national politics right now is that since the 1970's, both the Democrats and Republicans had periods of time when they more or less had a monopoly on the objective truth. In the 1970's inflation got to be so out of control in the USA that the economic damage it was doing was inflicting more social harm than maybe any other issue by the end of the 70's. In addition to that, the world lived in constant fear of nuclear annihilation from the cold war between the USA and the USSR.

In 1980 Ronald Reagan was elected president, with popular support from Democrats and Republican voters. Yes his economic policy was incredibly flawed, but his optimism was contagious and markets stabilized (even as the manufacturing jobs left the USA like rats from a sinking ship.) With that borderline delusional optimism, he almost single handedly ended the cold war. On the most important issues of the 1980's, the GOP had the most important priorities, and most in the USA were content with their system of government. The GOP had the Luxury of Being Right.

However, in 2000 George W. Bush became president. The need to be truthful completely evaded the W, claiming the white house even when he had lost the election to Al Gore, and eventually starting the wars in the Middle East that lasted until very recently, based on lies about weapons of mass destruction. He intentionally shed doubt on the best climate science of his era, as was convenient for his family and friend's oil money.

For 8 years during the W's presidency the Democrats had a the Luxury of objective truth being more or less on their side on almost every issue, as the lies and Orwellian language spewed forth from the W. It turns out the "smart bombs" killed tons of families and children, and that "shock and awe" did not bring peace. It turns out that people you occupy are not guaranteed to want to adopt your system of government. It turns out the world really was getting hotter.

Obama was a normal president who was as honest as any other politician. Unfortunately two years into the Obama administration the Left had now enjoyed 10 solid years of the objective truth very much being on their side. The Democrats had the Luxury of Being Right.

It turns out that when you are right for 10 years, you stop questioning your own sources and facts. You no longer have to engage with the other side. You start voting for ideological zealots instead of politicians skilled at statecraft. Everything turns into ideological echo chambers with everyone outside of that chamber becoming "evil," with purity tests so extreme that almost no one can qualify to stay in that chamber. This delusional self righteousness had infected the W after the 80's, and it infected the left during the reign of the W.

On one hand there are cosmetic social issues, and on the other hand there are serious issues of forien policy, governance and economics. On cosmetic social issues, people's feelings get hurt and mental health problems can emerge, which can impact families. However these issues are not of the same magnitude of importance as economics, governance and foreign policy, where wars and famines can lead to genocide, famine, mass casualties and the end of societies. For example, voting rights will always be more important than marriage rights.

The real damage being done to our country from both the Democrats and Republicans having had the Luxury of Being Right is they are allowing differences on cosmetic social issues keep them from finding common ground on economics, governance and foreign policy. Meanwhile rival nations with far less benevolent practices grow in power and influence. In addition our economic practices become more and more outdated as we as a people fail to adapt to evolving technological realities because of our inability to consider each other's perspectives.