Is Your Party You, Are You Your Party?

If there is one theme above all others in this year’s election(s), it’s that America is divided. It’s divided over many, many different things. Things that touch everyone and things that only touch a few among the many. If asked, there is hardly anyone who can’t name a half-dozen things that divide America; and there are lots of people who can rattle off a list much longer of what is wrong with America, what our problems are, or who is to blame for every ill known to man.

In our political campaigns and elections, we call many of these problems: Issues. The news media and social media are awash in ads, videos, images, articles, texts, posts, and links to information / misinformation / disinformation about America’s issues. Now, this is not unique to this election, except for the state-of-the-art of technology which is used today that didn’t exist in prior elections or politics. Yes, America is divided. It’s has been divided before; and America will assuredly will be divided again in the future, particularly given our political parties who seem to be able to find a bottom of the barrel that is even lower than depth to which they found they could go previously.

An odd aspect of this self-generated divisiveness is that it seems to not just deviate from but actually go against our very highly prized and touted American values and principles. This contradiction can be shown in simple American icons. How do you reconcile the very name of America? No, not America; but the one we used to establish our nation: The “United States of America”. A highly divided nation may still be “United” but that doesn’t just come without the same kind of requirements and constraints that come with being anything. If you want to be ‘honest’, ‘patriotic’, ‘trustworthy’, ‘knowledgeable’, or pick an attribute and to possess that quality / attribute / value you must meet the requirements it engenders. If you see these attributes  as “American” then can you accept that/those characteristic(s) apply to and are shared by Americans of political, ideological, or other categories that differ from your own? If not, then do you refute the societal contract that established America as a government by “We the People” and that you get to decide who the “People” are that are Americans? A very un-American notion which unfortunately has also been taken up by groups and political parties of the past.

I assume and assert that the vast majority of Americans share most of the “American” values that people talk about and espouse whether they actually practice or personally possess one, some, most, or all of these values and principles. If you find this somehow insulting, I would ask: “Do you think everyone you know and meet have all or none of these?” I did not intended to be insulting but to be practical in believing that ‘no one’ is perfect; thus each of us will fall short here and there and now and then. This view (assertion) offers an opportunity to ask some questions regarding how voters’ choice of a candidate or party align with the values of those candidates or party. These are simple questions, but even simple questions can have interesting implications that can inform us all and may ultimately explain how we manage to divide ourselves, perhaps irrationally, and in not just contradictions to our “American” values and principles but in truth violations of our values, principles and most importantly our laws.

Now, for the simple questions. These questions will just focus upon three topics: Truth, Intelligence, and Knowledge. On each topic a basic theme is how you view yourself on an attribute and on how you view a candidate that you choose/chose to support and vote for.

TRUTH:

Do you consider yourself as a person who is truthful compared to other Americans? Think of the ‘truthfulness’ of all Americans as ‘Average’ and then rate yourself as higher (True) or lower (Lie) relative to that Average. This is a ‘stake in the ground’ answer/ranking so that you can assess your answer to the following question.

Compared to your TRUTH score, how would you rate the TRUTH of the candidate(s)’s that you voted or will vote for?

See how easy that was. You may have even answered this question even before you read this.

But what implications are there for your answer? Well, that does depend upon you answers to both these questions.

I presume that you rated yourself at least Average but more likely somewhere above Average. I suppose some may be self-aware enough to self-acknowledge that they may fall a tad below Average, and that’s alright. But here’s the really important thing. Where was your candidate(s) rated relative to you?

If higher then we might assume that you expect or want your elected official to be at least as high or even higher. The logic of choosing a candidate whose TRUTH attribute is worse than your own does not make much sense, unless you don’t think other people can match let alone exceed your own. But perhaps the trustworthiness of an official isn’t necessary to lead the nation or make good decisions on behalf of the “People”. Although even if you share a perspective I have: “Never Trust a Politician”; I would always advise that it is in America’s best interests to seek as truthful a candidate as you can find.

INTELLIGENCE:

How do you consider yourself regarding Intelligence relative to other Americans?

You need to think of Intelligence here as the broad and general concept of Intelligence, sort of along the lines of how the average IQ test score is 100. This is also a ‘stake in the ground’ answer/ranking so that you can assess your answer to the following question.

Compared to your INTELLIGENCE score, how would you rate the candidate(s)’s INTELLIGENCE that you voted or will vote for?

This may not have been as easy but that may mean it is more important also. You may already have an opinion on this even before you read the question.

But here again there are implications for your answer? And that certainly does depend upon you answers to both these questions.

Most people would think themselves of Average Intelligence, which makes perfect sense, as most people are. But hear again the real meaningful information is where you put a candidate(s) you choose or chose to support.

I can only see two conditions that would make sense here. Either they rate higher than you or you see them as equal to yourself. If you chose a candidate that you think is of lower Intelligence than you, then I would suggest you go back and re-take the Intelligence question, unless you believe that you are well above average. Even in that case, where the candidate ranks ought to matter; else I would once again suggest you consider a re-take of the question.

After the next question, there is a follow-up on the answers that you have given. So, don’t be surprised.

KNOWLEDGEABLE:

How well informed and KNOWLEDGEABLE do you consider yourself as a person compared to the Average American? I consider this the hardest question of the three to assess and yet I expect most people will land on the above-“Average” rating which oddly ought to oxymoronically be an “Average” answer.

To assist you in your rating, consider what “Knowledge” you believe is most relevant to and important for someone who will be making decisions that impact you, your family, community, and America. If necessary, go back an answer where you would fall relative to the Average American in this context.

Compared to your KNOWLEDGEABLE score, how would you rate the KNOWLEDGEABLE score of the candidate(s)’s that you voted or will vote for?

This may not have been as easy as I had stated, but surely it is a characteristic of any candidate that you are going to support.

The implications of this question ought to be self-evident. If they know less than you feel you do about issues that are important when making decision affecting you and others, that’s a problem. Being as informed as you on these issues would seem almost expected of a candidate but somewhat of a concern. Why aren’t they bringing more to the game than you? If on the other hand, they know a lot more about issues that matter than you than that would make sense. They gained your support because they helped you see a given issue more clearly and a path to addressing that issue which you had not.

At this point, making sense of all the questions and your answers comes into focus.

Seeing the Bigger Picture

The question here is: “Can an individual who possesses the attributes you rated them as having, have those traits in the combination(s) you assessed them as having?

Would an Intelligent and Knowledgeable individual be un-TRUTH-ful? If they are intellectually competent and capable and they possess sound and accurate information (knowledge) being un-TRUTH-full about facts or misleading others (including you) about those facts, their reasoning, or motives is not consistent with being a good representative of the “People” or a national leader? Note: I am not asserting that politicians or our political parties succeed here.

Would an Truthful and Intelligent individual that is not Knowledgeable be capable of being a good representative of the “People” or a national leader? Intelligence cannot overcome erroneous information, and your personal truthfulness is invalidated by holding false information or not having the relevant information.

The last question should be rather obvious in its implications. If an Truthful and Knowledgeable individual was not adequately Intelligent, the consequences for the decisions that they make are concerning. Even though this may explain a lot about politicians in general, I am hesitant to presume that there are many/any who possess the quality of these attributes that would best serve America. And, I must always remind everyone: “Never Trust a Politician”; which is unfortunately what the majority of “People” do,

I doubt that many Americans look at their politicians through these lens. Rather, I think most people look through the distorting lens of political party, ideological mythology, and the untrustworthy torrent of unaccountable and unreliable misinformation/disinformation media.