I finished reading The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama last week--out of order, as I have not yet read Dreams from my Father--but I debated for a while about whether or not to put comments to page, lacking as I do an adequate framework of knowledge about both the structure and workings of our political system and the historical context of politics in this country to come up with what I consider to be a decent commentary.
However, I did take some notes in the course of the reading, primarily in the beginning, and those I will transcribe here, if only because I am sorely lacking a blog entry for this week.
I found Chapter 1, Republicans and Democrats, most difficult for the reason cited above. Obama describes a widening gap between the two parties--that much I did grasp--and with that an increasing polarization of the issues. As a result, he explains, a supporter of one party these days is expected to toe the party line on every issue--so much so that very little can get done in politics, and that the two parties have lost track of the civil conversations that politicians who were nonetheless in disagreement once had, and in which everyday Americans continue to engage. He traces the origin of this increased divide to the civil rights movement, where one side fought for recognition of civil rights and the other sought return to a clear cut, organized, and seamlessly operating country. Obama argues that although the civil rights movement was a necessary step in our country's evolution--one that won important rights for the disenfranchised--it is now similarly important that we overcome that widened political gulf and return to a place where we can have civil conversations about our common needs once more.
"They are out there, I think to myself, those ordinary citizens who have grown up in the midst of all the political and cultural battles, but who have found a way--in their own lives, at least--to make peace with their neighbors, and themselves," Obama writes. "...I imagine they are waiting for a politics with the maturity to balance idealism and realism, to distinguish between what can and cannot be compromised, to admit the possibility that the other side might sometimes have a point. They don't always understand the arguments between right and left, conservative and liberal, but they recognize the difference between dogma and common sense, responsibility and irresponsibility, between those things that last and those that are fleeting. They are out there, waiting for Republicans and Democrats to catch up with them."
Hmm.
In the second chapter, Values, Obama speaks to the those common values shared by all Americans--staunch Republicans, Democrats, and average Americans alike. And it urges us to respect values held dear by others even when we do not share them ourselves:
"...our democracy might work a bit better if we recognized that all of us possess values that are worthy of respect: if liberals at least acknowledged that the recreational hunter feels the same way about his gun as they feel about their library books, and if conservatives recognized that most women feel as protective of their right to reproductive freedom as evangelicals do of their right to worship."
I like this quote very much because it puts into words something I have felt for a long time. It brings me back to an old friend, a very far left-leaning activist who was so passionate about his causes that he was extremely judgmental of anyone who did not share his beliefs. I agree with Obama on this one--we need to respect others' rights to have their own values. Without this, no meaningful dialogue can take place.
I wish to apply this line of thought to New Left Media's coverage of the teabaggers who converged on Washington D.C. on September 12, 2009 to protest various Obama initiatives, as blogged about by Daily Hurricane. The video and the blog do an effective job of painting the protesters as a bunch of crazies who don't know what they're talking about--and certainly, as is illustrated, many of them do not. But it's a difficult line for responsible reporting. When the right perpetuates untruths among the masses in order to sink the health care plan, for example, it is important to expose the misinformation campaign for what it is. But to make fun of the masses themselves in a way that questions the very values that underlie a people's way of life? This insults and can only serve to polarize the sides even more.
Obama makes an important distinction between ideology and values in Chapter 2: "Values are faithfully applied to the facts before us, while ideology overrides whatever facts call theory into question." If one considers the teabaggers in this light--particularly those zealots whose preaching is based on bad information--it is clear that they do a disservice to the American people by perpetuating ideologies that are not based on actual facts. But I argue that even those (and especially those) dangerous individuals who blindly accept ideology as fact must be treated with decency and respect, because in the end they have a right to their values, and furthermore because they will not be reached effectively with insult. I know people are going to disagree with me on this one but I feel strongly that our best chance is through honest, well-intentioned efforts at education.
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NOTE: I started this entry dubious about whether or not I should even blog on the topic, but now I find I have quite a bit to say after all. Other projects call, however, so I will publish this as Part I and finish my thoughts on Barack Obama's Audacity of Hope (in Part II) at a later date.
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