Refocusing the debate

There's a fundamental message that I find myself repeating over and over. If you read back along my blog here or ever discuss politics with me in real life, you'll find a recurring theme. I feel too much focus is placed on the battle between established ideologies, as defined by the words that describe them in bulk, such as "socialism" or "capitalism", "left" and "right".

I am not an expert myself on the meanings of these words. I have looked them up of course, those and others like them, and what I see in those definitions is not always a perfect match for how I had percieved them (what me and many nowadays call socialism I think better fits the definition of social democracy for example), or how I see them being used. You can hear experts talk for hours about the pros and cons of this or that, the risks in each system. The bias of any speaker almost inevitably comes through. Bias doesn't mean that what they say is wrong. Thats partly what makes it more dangerous. Its the inevitable spin we all use, consiously or otherwise. You state your case in the way that makes it most apealing. We present information not deceitfully as someone with the oposite bias might claim but simply with our own focus. emphasising what we think is imprtant, perhaps dismissing something others might think important. There's a fundamental empathy required in any real dialogue of firstly realising that both sides are likely engaging in the same level of subtle manipulation of language through uncontious bias, and in maintaining the presense of mind to know that this does not mean our oponent is sinister or ill-intentioned. Thats not to say they can't be; but there can be no dialogue if we presume that anyone who doesnt already agree is in some way corrupt, foolish, or dishonest.

We all know we live in an increasingly polarised world. When we fight our ideological battles through some quick witted meme we dont open the door to real debate. So much of the "debate" occurs in isolated bubles where political players, or just individual spreading their views, talk not to the oposing side but simply to others who already agree. A dialogue founded in self-satisfaction, in giving ourselves the feeling that we took a stand and spoke out whilst keeping ourselves safe of any true danger of confrontation or having our ideas really challenged. Every week on social media in the UK, after the two main party leaders have had their debate in parliament, the videos come thick and fast of each saying their prepared lines of attack against the other. Tellingly, each side shares only the clip showing their own leader speaking, and never the oponents reply, or their initial statement. Goes for both sides, exactly as each other. you have to go looking for the full debate, to see the actual exchange. Then, when you see it, you realise how often they utterly ignore each others words in their replies. knowing full well that they are not in fact speaking to each other, but to their own base of supporters online.

I find now, in my efforts to genuinely try to understand the view from both sides, that a great deal of us are not as diferent as we initially think. If we can lift the veil of presumptions and dogma from our debates we will find much more agreememnt than disagreement, and in those places were we still disagree we will at least find understanding and the foundations of compromise, and there a path forward.

We are one humanity. We are more than tribes.

Lets base our debates around goals and then hear each other on the solutions. We should consider each other honest and well-intentioned until proven otherwise.

I am not "a socialist" or "a capitalist". I am not "a leftist" or "right-wing". I am a person. I own a small business and want to be able to work at it to make it succeed, but I also want to see the poor and downtrodden looked after and not abandoned. I dont honestly care what Karl Marx or Adam Smith said, what they defined and explained. We can learn from history and its figures but we cant stop the buck at ideas developed 200 years ago and pretend that we havent spoted some flaws in both in the time since. That they cant perhaps learn a thing or two from each other a find a balance.

Why can't I say that I would like to see everyone have access to health-care without having to fear the cost or debt; or that there should be a basic social welfare safety net, without being called a socialist and told that I endorse goverment control over the economy and that I want them to "seize the  means of production". Why can't I say that Venezuela is being ruled by an a torturous dictatorship without someone saying I am part of the wealthy elite and out of touch with comon venezuelans, even though I am from there and have family and friends there and the people contradicting me don't. Why can't I say that I want to be able to aspire to succes and perhaps a degree of luxiourious wealth should my business ever do well enogh without someone telling me that that contradicts my views on social security? can we stop turning the world black and white and realise that complex issues need complex and well debated answer, and stop this ridiculous obcessions with 200 year old ideologies that have allready shown their failings and realise these are not the only answers we have to choose from?

Can we stop talking about left and right and istead just talk about sustainable economies, about eradicating poverty, about climate change and the spread of preventable disease. Can we do that without stringing each other up and burning each other at the stake?

We all just want to be happy. Can we just talk about how we can achieve a good baseline of that for everyone, and the potential to strive beyond in an even playing field for those who can or want to?

How is it we can send a machine to orbit a moon of Saturn and send back photos but we can't just have a polite conversation about how we should run our society...

Lets each take responsibility for creating dialogue and building bridges. For talking with people and not at them. Lets mend fences and build friendships and solve problems.

Lets refocus the debate.