BY DOMINICK DICARLO | STAFF WRITER
There’s something important that more and more Americans have talked about recently: that is the culture war going on right here in America. It isn’t a real war, I'm sure we won’t be in another civil war anytime soon. If you had to give it a label, it’s more like the cold war of the 20th century. Our politics have become so dirty and so distrustful that people who have political differences refuse to even talk to each other. When people do decide to talk, it quickly morphs into a screaming match with no real semblance of what the original intention was remaining. The election of President Donald Trump was a major turning point in this ongoing culture war and it sparked some of the nastiest rhetoric we have seen in American politics.
The left and the right in America have significantly different politics, morals, and values but, this has been the case one way or another for decades. So, why is it so prevalent now? I would be inclined to say that it’s because of how our rhetoric has heated up with every election; how we demonize our opponent with big words and unfounded accusations just to win. This isn’t a Democrat problem or a Republican problem, both sides carry out much of the divisive rhetoric we see nowadays. There is one side however, that is strenuously moving the needle on what’s deemed appropriate - that’s the Democratic party and left-leaning politicians. You ask yourself how the Republicans wound up with a candidate like Donald Trump? Well, when one side of the political spectrum labels every single Republican politician for decades as a racist, sexist, homophobic bigot, you create a level of toxicity that eventually makes people stop caring about labels and leads them to vote for whoever will fight against this nonsense best.
When I was in high school, I brought this point up to my AP Government and Politics teacher. After I told him this though, he laughed in my face and politely said to me that I was clearly watching too much Fox News. It was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life, to be humiliated by my teacher like this in front of my entire class. I left for lunch that day absolutely infuriated, but I was also determined to prove him wrong whenever I got the chance. It may come as a shock to some of you that not every Republican or conservative is a racist, sexist, homophobic bigot since that is the image commonly propped up by liberals in the media and in the halls of academia. Certainly, there are hateful, evil people on the right, but there are also those same disgusting people on the left. Evils like these know no political party, it only knows hate itself.
Liberals and conservatives have major differences in how they view society and the values that should dictate how society should operate. Having these differences doesn’t mean one side is evil! This is how you manage to craft the distasteful and toxic civil discourse we have today. When you demonize every single candidate, no matter how decent they may actually be, it leads voters to be accepting of any candidate, no matter how many flaws and imperfections they actually do have. Bad people can come into power when you demonize every single decent-minded person trying to serve the public good. During the 2012 general election, Vice President Joe Biden told a predominantly African-American audience that Mitt Romney’s policies would, “put you all back in chains.” Whether or not this was simply a metaphor for Wall Street means nothing. This level of rhetoric is divisive and disgusting no matter how it’s used. It’s how you wind up with a voting block so frustrated that they turn to politicians who actually are hateful and divisive.
Our civil discourse has decayed for decades now, with no hope of turning back. A complacent media along with a corrupt Democratic party is precisely what’s driving this continued downward spiral of hatred and divisiveness. It goes without saying that conservatives have obviously used similar tactics to fire up voters and to paint their opposition in villainous ways. Even with that said, to fix what today seems unchangeable, you have to go to the source of the problem. Democrats are campaigning on a message of resistance this year, they have no real policy initiatives to back up these calls for resistance either. The messaging might change with every new election, but the sentiments behind that message never seem to be very different.
Sources:
The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of Liberty Den University or its members.