Why the Divisiveness?

Posted: Tuesday, March 22nd, 2016

The cry from all camps during this presidential election has been a lament over how divided this country appears to be. Sanders is pitting one class against another. Trump's campaign is fueled by anger. Cruz's policies will disrupt whatever remains of stability. And those in the center do nothing to solve the pressing needs in this country.

So why the divisiveness? It could be the nature of democratic rule. There will always be issues that divide us in half. Parties will take one or the other side, and gridlock will play out until enough people are convinced one side is right. Other issues have a majority of the voters in agreement. Those who disagree either have to change the people or make apologies for why they still hold their unpopular view.

Picture a parade, each float representing an issue. There are some floats that have come and gone. There was heated debate, but now the majority of voters agree. There are floats that have not come yet. Not enough viewers have made a decision on that issue. Those who want to implement that policy will have to wait until the "float" comes into view, if it ever does. But the floats in front of us are the ones with a nearly 50/50 divide. And when one side gives way, the issue will pass on as settled.

This could also be why voters tend to divide in equal portions into two political camps even at the local level. This is often true in countries with three or more political parties.

A more likely cause of the divisiveness is how much the government is involved in our lives. Who we place in political office makes a big impact on our daily lives.

This was not always so. FEE.org author Jeffrey Tucker wrote this concerning corrupt presidents of the 19th century:

"Most of the power presidents had amounted to steering some infrastructure contracts to their friends. And here, their corruption was truly revealed, but the damage they could do was limited. Their play money came from some small tariffs. They were caretakers of a limited government that didn't intrude into any intimate aspects of life. The governments they headed had strict limits on what they could do. They had no policy plans to speak of because policy as we know it barely existed.

"Leviathan as we know it had not been invented yet. That all came later in the 20th century."

Conservatives are angry and divisive because liberal tax policies and healthcare and other regulations are making it harder to earn a living. Many of them think that illegal immigrants and foreign factories are taking their jobs away. Liberals are angry and divisive over conservative's desire to take away government financial assistance from those who have it or want to rely on it. Many of them don't want conservatives to take away discounted birth control and the ability to have an abortion.

There will always be divisions among us, because of the sinful nature of man. Our founding fathers recognized this, and a small and limited government was their solution. We have departed from their wisdom. Now, any change in policy impacts one or another group of voters in very noticeable ways. And because of this, our divisiveness will only grow.