I have been looking at the divide we have in this country along political lines. It is a three-way divide. The Blues, liberal, make up about 47% of those voting. The Reds, conservative, make up about 35% of those voting. The Purple, swing voters, make up the remaining 18%. The Reds are mostly made up of the Baby Boomers, the people born right after World War II. It also means the Reds are older than the other two groups. The Blues are made up of several different groups ranging from women to certain Latino groups. The Purple are those who control elections because they swing from side to side. They tend to be religious and satisfied with their lives—Latinos who are from Cuba and individual South American countries make up a percentage of this group.
What all groups share is they are Americans. It’s a fact that seems to be lost in the vicious political divide we currently have. All the groups share certain beliefs about our country. They divide on specific issues such as abortion and social welfare issues. Abortion is fundamentally a religious belief. Social welfare issues get labeled as socialism. Let’s look at both of those issues. We cannot fault anyone for their religious beliefs, but what we don’t want in this country is one religious group forcing their beliefs on the rest of the country. The Constitution guarantees religious freedom. Social welfare issues have been muddied by one side, labeling anything to help other people as socialism. It’s very effective with older voters because they equate socialism with communism and dictatorship. Again, we cannot fault people who hold this viewpoint because that was what they were taught when they were in school.
Politicians have succeeded in stirring up controversy so they can win elections. I believe if people were left to think about the controversies that divide us without the politician’s help, we’d be far less divided. I can give you an example. When I was young, there were things called blue laws. By majority, we are a Christian nation, so we had laws that no stores could be open on Sunday, The Lord’s Day. The problem is not all Christians consider Sunday The Lord’s Day. If you tried to follow all the religious tenants of people living in the United States, it couldn’t be done. If you’re in a Muslim country, for instance, everything stops for prayers five times a day. You won’t be served in the restaurants, or you can’t buy your groceries and so on. I think that’s why the Constitution enshrines religious freedom.
Let’s see how the politicians have tried to convince us that socialism equates to communism, which equates to dictatorship. It’s sort of like saying that a Catholic is just like a Southern Baptist. While they share some beliefs, there are others they do not. The Scandinavian countries have a form of socialism. People there can and do start businesses and become very wealthy. On the other side, they take care of everyone in the country, whether it be medical care or financial aid. Surveys show that the Scandinavian countries have the highest population of satisfied people.
In these two examples, the politicians want to win elections by creating this divide. They need to keep the divide wide so they can win elections. As you probably gathered from this blog, I do not have a lot of respect for most politicians. Some good respectable politicians are all colors, Red, Blue, and Purple. A common theme is that they care more about people than winning the next election. Whatever color the politicians might be, vote for those who don’t lie to you to win the next election.
