One, possibly the primary, obstacle to acting together wisely is that people disagree, sometimes to the point of violent conflict, about what kind of action is appropriate. Dealing with conflict is inescapable. The most difficult disagreements are about what is the right thing to do; that is, the conflict is more normative than simply factual. Early on in human history, people learned that making decisions to act under these conditions requires exercising the best judgment possible. Such judgment requires, in turn, carefully and fairly weighing various options for action against the many things people hold dear, which is deliberation.
America must come together and deliberate on the top issues of the day. Presently there is too little trust between the two major political parties. Debates within open and respectful environments move the issues forward.
Better elections also mitigate the conflict between the two parties so that they can engage in respectful debate on important issues.
ReplyDeletedlw
Voters often complain about the lack of civility among the presidential candidates. This is very unfortunate, as true leadership rises and sustains civility and thoughtfulness.
ReplyDeleteThe original intent behind having a VP was to make our most important election a winner-doesn't-take-all election that would be more civil.
ReplyDeleteIf we had a 2-stage election with the 1st stage having 7 candidates and made everyone pick their favorite three to determine three finalists then we could resurrect the original rule by having the three finalists pick on of the other six candidates as their VP, potentially including each other.
That would make the campaign a lot more civil.
dlw