Make America Argue Again

I’ve been told many times in many settings to leave politics alone. Talking about it only leads to resentment and damaged relationships with friends and family.

As things stand right now, the people who have said that to me seem to be correct. People don’t know how to handle it when people disagree with them. People seem to have forgotten that having the right to an opinion carries with it the responsibility of being able to talk about that opinion or change your mind on it.

If we can’t even come to political understandings through constructive arguments with our friends and family, how are strangers supposed to resolve political differences and reach beneficial outcomes on any political level?

I guess the answer is that they don’t.

We need to make America argue again. That doesn’t mean people should scream and hurl insults at each other. They’re already doing that if they’re not avoiding politics altogether.

Rather, people need to learn how to argue again. Figure out your premises (truth claims), how they lead to a conclusion, and why you think the premises are true.

Then, when someone disagrees with you, locate the disagreement in your premises and sort out that premise. That’s how arguing is done. That’s how we will start having constructive political discourse in this country again.