Okay, you're right. You've convinced me.
The only way for this profoundly divided country to come back together and move forward is for both sides to focus on the common ground, commit to having a respectful dialogue, and accept compromise. So I'm going to do that.
As a first step, I've been reading about this weekend's Texas Republican Party convention to better understand that tribe's beliefs. Once I dispassionately educate myself, I can figure out what positions represent a point equidistant between the beliefs of Republicans and my own and accept them as that "common ground" that everyone talks about but struggles to specify.
The Texas Republicans officially declared that Joe Biden "was not legitimately elected. I believe that he was. The "common ground In the middle" position, then, would be to accept that Biden and Trump BOTH won the Presidency and will have to co-govern the country.
The Texas Republicans officially rebuked their own Senator, John Cornyn, for participating in bipartisan negotiations on gun control. In fact, they booed Cornyn when he showed up to speak at the convention. I support such talks, but I am willing to compromise on the obvious "common ground In the middle" position, which would be to nix bipartisan negotiations In favor of partisan talks in which each side is allowed to talk to itself.
The Texas Republicans officially declared that homosexuality is "an abnormal lifestyle choice." I don't believe that people choose to be homosexual or that one's innate sexual preference should be labeled as abnormal. But in the interest of cooperation, I'm willing to compromise by supporting the position that heterosexuals are people who have chosen a normal lifestyle.
The Texas Republicans officially called for Texas schoolchildren “to learn about the humanity of the preborn child"and that life begins at fertilization. I personally don't believe that a zygote is a "child," but I will accept the "common ground in the middle." The average age In the United States is 38.6 years. Let's add four and a half months to account for half of a standard pregnancy. So the compromise will be that schoolchildren will be required to learn about the humanity of 38-year-old Americans.
The Texas Republicans adopted a platform that declared that people under 21 are the group "most likely to need to defend themselves" and may need to quickly buy guns "in emergencies such as riots." I believe that assault rifles should be banned for everyone, not just those under 21, but I'm going to swallow hard and buy into the "common ground in the middle": in the future, only Americans under the age of 21 can purchase assault rifles, since they have the greatest need.
The Texas Republicans agreed that red-flag laws violate the due process of people who haven't convicted of a crime. Personally, I don't think that people who have been convicted of a violent crime should be allowed to buy firearms. But I'm going to suspend that belief in favor of "the common-ground middle." People who have committed violent crimes will be able to possess firearms, but they will have to wear a yellow flag so that we know who they are before we marry them.
The Texas Republicans also established that their policy Is to prohibit the “teaching, exposure, and/or discussion of sexual matters (mechanics, feelings, orientation or ‘gender identity’ issues),” and remove related books or materials from schools. As Cindi Castilla, a member of the platform committee, put it: “The issue of gender has nothing to do with education. Education is about reading, writing, math, science, history and fine arts. Maybe some foreign language and PE." I believe that "sexual matters" are fundamental to the teaching of biology, and that biology should be taught In school. But to reach "the common ground In the middle" with Ms. Castilla and other Republicans, I'm okay with ruling that biology should be removed from the school curriculum to make room for more PE and foreign language (except for Chinese and Spanish, which are too controversial).
Thinking through these “common-ground in the middle” solutions was kind of hard, but I got there. I earned a lot about myself and the other side. I feel good about shedding my personal beliefs and finding that beautifully manucured, sensible fifty-yard line that years of relentless partisanship totally obscured.
I also learned that it’s critical that we understand our history so that we don’t repeat our past mistakes.
At one time. long ago, Americans were also deeply divided—over the issue of slavery. Neither side was willing to compromise, and as a result we fought a terrible Civil War in which hundreds of thousands of Americans were killed by other Americans.
Instead, we should have compromised. We could have found that “common ground in the middle,’ which in this crucial case would have had the United States declare an end to legal slavery but replace it with a system in which African Americans, while no longer technically slaves, could still be exploited economically and kept from attaining actual political power.
If we had only had the wisdom to do that in 1860, we wouldn’t have the kind of partisanship that is tearing us apart today.