The Art of Debate
I was listening to public radio the other day when a caller from Germany offered a very astute observation: we in the U.S. don’t know how to disagree. I’ve been frustrated by politics and popular political media coverage for some time, but I had a hard time succinctly capturing why I felt so frustrated. The German’s insight is dead-on. We don’t know how to disagree, and by extension we are incapable of real debate.
”But of course we know how to disagree! We disagree all the time!”
While it is certainly true that we disagree constantly in politics and in the media, we don’t do it well. Or gracefully. Or productively. This is a problem.
Instead, we only argue and fight. We call each other names and demonize the opposing viewpoint. Rarely (never?) do we stop to really analyze all the angles of the given topic. It is assumed that there are two and only two sides to every story. Black or white. You’re either with us or you’re with the terrorists. You get the idea. The talking-head media pundits are the worst offenders. For some reason it is considered entertaining or enlightening to hear two people tell you why the other one is wrong.
The two major political parties are no better. It’s easy to forget that we’re all on the same team by the way they treat one another.
I’ve seen this first hand. The global climate debate I referenced a few posts down has been completely derailed. I never knew it would be so hard to host a debate while leaving the political baggage at the door. I’ve been told that I exhibit an elitist air by referring to peer-reviewed scientific papers. I’ve been likened to Al Gore and other liberal extremists. I’ve been loosely grouped with proponents for eugenics. It’s been incredibly discouraging.
We live in a great democracy. If we can’t figure out how to host a civil debate, I fear greatly for the health of our nation.
Filed under politics : Comments (0) : Feb 27th, 2007 by tadfad
