As a Left Center Right visual aid scale, imagine a linear spectrum…
For simplicity of reference let’s make it numeric, with "0", the lowest value single digit number, in the center
and "9"s, the highest value single digit number, on the outer ends.
9876543210123456789
Let’s say that this spectrum represents a specific situation in our society. A situation that most people will agree needs a solution.
And each individual digit represents a possible choice, as a coarse of action that can be taken.
Generally, most national issues (aka situations in need of solution) share some basic characteristics. If someone is willing to do some selfless, objective work looking for it, they will find a mutually beneficial solution somewhere in the middle –
987654[3210123]456789.
Sometimes the most viable, realistic and mutually beneficial solution will happen to slightly favor the right –
987654321012[3]456789
sometimes it will slightly favor the left –
987654[3]210123456789.
Simple enough? Reasonable enough? And logical too. But not so convenient if you are so focused on your specific agenda that you become blindly determined to manipulate the policy of an entire complex society to serve only your self centered perspective on the matter.
Hypothetically, here’s how that tends to play out… You scan over an issue like Health Care Reform. You have no interest in finding a mutually beneficial solution, because you lack the vision to see how helping someone else now can actually benefit YOU in the long term. Usually in ten fold. Meaning that, by being unwilling to responsibly participate as a real member of a complex society and incur a $10- expense now you could be setting yourself up for an unavoidable expense of $100- over the long term. A society is a very complex organic thing. If you're living in one, ignoring it won't make it go away. Choosing not to responsibly react to it will never prevent it from affecting you. On the contrary, the less that you participate, the more it will affect you negatively. This concept is simply outside the current scope of your comprehension.
So you scan over this issue, only looking for the choice that will most clearly align with your narrow perspective on the matter. You find your choice of actions, far to the Right of any possible mutually beneficial option –
9876543210123456[7]89.
Your arguments for your position will not include any actual solutions. You will just systematically highlight problems, obstacle and erroneous reason why potential solutions could not possibly work. Any time that someone tries to direct your attention to a place where mutually beneficial solutions actually exist –
987654[3210123]456789
– you will, with an arrogant level of confidence, categorize everything which is to the Left of your ideology –
[9876543210123456]789
– to be nothing but far Left extremism –
[9]876543210123456789.
Rush Limpdick has conditioned you to believe that if it’s not purely Capitalistic, then it must be purely Socialistic, which of course is practically Communistic! “Heathen Liberals!”
So, you go down the list, making every possible solution out to be an evil Socialist plot, designed to do nothing but let dead-beat welfare recipients leach off the people who are willing to work. (It would be very convenient if it were just that simple... Sorry Righty! Reality ain't simple.) Through this manipulative process of elimination, your self-serving ideological number [7] conveniently winds up being the last man standing. This creates the political illusion that your non-solution is the only solution.
Unfortunately for our society, many of you actually are quite successful at selling this illusion to a lot of people. Not because people are stupid. But because it is sales! And most people can be sold on more things than they would expect -- particularly when the salesman has been so skillfully sold on what he is selling. And he's armed with the product feature of CONVENIENCE!
I’m no genius. But I do have the sense to defend myself against the smoke and mirrors of political salesmen by reminding myself that if someone's pitch seems to be a little bit too convenient, it's probably coming from a part of the spectrum that's pretty far from the solution.
Years ago, I was debating a political issue with a Republican friend of mine. He said: "If you want to work, you're a Republican. If you don't want to work, you're a Democrat."
My response was: "If you oversimplify serious, complex issues, with arrogant partisan catch phrases, you're a Republican. If you can accept the complexity of issues and at least try to step back and have an objective look at the big picture, you're a realist."
The convenient oversimplification of difficult complex matters is like Kryptonite that the Right Wing keeps using against our society.
They will keep using it, until it stops working.
