Quote:
Originally Posted by wingmaker
Yeah, I guess my comment seems a bit strange in the midst of people reacting to a crazy Trump moment. I wasn't really talking about Trump at all. But I fully believe that Trump could only be elected in an environment where political discourse has broken down to the point where people draw a line in the sand. You could never have a Trump presidency if people in the United States were openly debating issues on their own merits and not just arguing along party lines.
I also do not agree that we are so much better in Canada. Even in your own post you say:"Unlike Canada's political arguements where there is merit to both the theories and the platforms on each side". Perhaps by "each" you mean a plurality of sides, and if you do, then I am betraying my own bias. I read it to mean that there are two sides, because "each side" often refers to two opposing sides. And this is exactly the problem. America has two parties, and somehow that has been adopted around the world as some kind of universal right/left divide that does not really exist in and of itself. Of course there are political ideologies that oppose one another, but the hard party line that now splits every issue into a binary is a creation of the American political system and partisanship in general. It's "with us or against us" all the time. It's ridiculous, and it is totally a problem in Canada. Facts are discarded frequently in the hurry-up partisanship opinion forming in this country. We may not have elected Trump, but I think it is quite naive to think Canadian political discourse is so much better than it is south of the border.
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good post.
i definitely agree with the first paragraph; the polarization has been a long time coming. Obviously, i am biased, however if one traces the divisive rhetoric, i'd argue it really started downhill with Roger Ailes and Roger Stone...guys like Limbaugh certainly added fuel to that fire.
I think the democrats have some similar things now, like CNBC, but they are far behind the curve compared to how long the GOP have been cultivating this... additionally, I think the GOP base, historically at least, tended to be more monolithic than the Democrats.
As far as Canadian politics goes, i think the jury is still out... while I didn't agree with Harper, it definitely wasn't as unpalatable as Trump is... we'll see. It is possible that Canadian politics is simply behind US politics by 10 years, however, the optimist in me hopes that the level of partisanship will never reach that divide that currently defines the US political system.
It sure seems like a three party system might have prevented some of this level of difference in the US... but way too late for that to happen...