A Better Future

We have an election today. You may have heard something about it...

I don’t know who will win this election, but one thing is certain - whoever wins, half of the country will be upset.

We chose as our political system (against the wishes of our first president) a contest in which there are always winners and losers. But there’s another way of looking at this. A more philosophical one.

Instead of seeing it as a 'win-lose' situation, we can see it as a journey towards harmony of opposites, towards understanding ourselves better as a country.

First, we have to recognize that other positions are valid, even if we don’t agree with them. Otherwise, we would have to accept that in a democracy, where freedom is celebrated, the only valid position is the one we support.

It’s true there is a small minority that holds extreme views that should be rejected unhesitatingly. Any view that promotes hatred of others for their ethnicity, gender, religion, and even political opinion, should be shut down. Hatred is a form of division that is unnatural and can only lead to destruction.

But the great majority of Americans hold nuanced views that may be different than yours, but are not necessarily hateful or wrong.

We have to admit that we don’t know everything.

It’s also important to separate a person's political opinion from their fundamental humanity. A political opinion can be a result of many things - family background, personal experience, exposure to propaganda, etc. A different life experience usually leads to a different way of seeing the world.

In my mind, the two parties are aspects of the American psyche, struggling like wrestlers for dominance, but holding each other nonetheless. My worry is that hatred and intolerance will irrevocably split the two sides, leading to unimaginable consequences.

As philosophers we cannot give a hand to hatred, division, intolerance.

We cannot be part of a destructive process, we will definitely not give a hand to it, because we have come here to build.

Let us work towards unity, understanding, and hope. Let us work towards the future.

That is what we are here for.