The boys and I watched a movie yesterday afternoon, played Farkle and then we sat in the living room and talked for a long time. We talked about their upcoming weeks in New Braunfels, Brainy Bird’s college application process and Little Chirp’s Algebra placement exam. The normal stuff that we would have been talking about if there had never been a virus and a shutdown. Then we talked about politics. I often feel that Brainy Bird scorns me for being a Republican. Last night, I did not dive into his party affiliation; instead, I asked him a series of questions, in no particular order:
Question 1 – Do you believe in the equal treatment of gay people, including their right to marry same sex partners?
His response – an emphatic yes.
Question 2 – Do you believe in standing for our flag, honoring our troops?
His response – an emphatic yes.
Question 3 – Do you believe in a woman’s right to have an abortion? (I did not bring up near-term abortion, as Little Chirp was in the room with us, and I did not want to trouble the mind of a 12 year-old with such an idea.)
His response – an emphatic yes.
Question 4 – Do you believe that we should give money to people that do not want to work?
His response – an absolute no.
Question 5 – Do you believe that we should give money to people who cannot provide for themselves?
His response was lengthy – He is clearly not overly enthusiastic about government handouts; he feels that people working is important for the person and society, but recognizes there are situations where people cannot work. He felt strongly that we should have a sense of responsibility for taking care of all of our citizens, and that no one should ever be homeless or hungry.
Question 6 – Do you believe in the death penalty?
His response – No, except when I do. We as people are not equipped to fairly decide who should live and who should die, and I find it disturbing that the death penalty falls much more heavily on people of color and poor people. I do think there are cases where the death penalty is the only answer; such cases as mass murder, terrorism.
Question 7 – If you and a black woman are both equally qualified for admittance into an elite academic opportunity, is it fair for her to be chosen over you ?
His response – If we are both qualified, and we can both do the work, why is there not a spot for both of us? The word elite is what is wrong with that question. There needs to be less focus on a university’s percentage of acceptance and more focus on the success of the university in educating people to be contributors to our society. I do think that there should be considerations to the fact that I had every advantage, and that someone that has not had these advantages, should absolutely have considerations in the application process, but again if we can both succeed at the opportunity; the opportunity should be open to both of us. I do not think that I should have to go into a lifetime of debt to go to a top university. I think the government money funding college for lower economic students is ultimately creating hyper-inflation and driving up the cost of an education, without improving education. This is not fair to anyone. Perhaps, we should stop championing low acceptance rates, and begin championing how effectively universities use money to educate their students. It should not be how many kids they let in, it should be what their students become.
Question 8 – Do you believe that all people should be treated equally, regardless of race, gender and sexual orientation?
His response – an emphatic yes. He went on to say that he recognizes that we have major issues with inequality in our country that we are not equipped to solve under present or past leadership.
Question 9 – Do you agree with the shutdown?
His response – I am not qualified to agree or disagree. I do not have any medical training. I do not have the responsibility of providing for anyone, not even myself. I do not own a business. I hate that this has become an issue for politicians instead of an issue for medical professionals, economists and business owners to collectively address.
There were some other questions, which I cannot recall, but I do recall that we are aligned on his response to every question. With regard to academic opportunities, I had never considered the real issue to be the elitism of the application process and the mass spending of universities that may or may not contribute to education. He opened my eyes to this.
I said, “So, we are aligned on every issue? Why is it that you scorn me for being a Republican?” Brainy Bird’s voice rose for the first time in the conversation. He went from his brilliantly articulate self to a stuttering rant that went something like this:
“I HATE political parties. With all the issues….how can we fall into one bucket or the other? How does that make sense to anyone? The biggest problem is the two parties fighting amongst themselves…I hate it. I hate it. How can intelligent people sign up for this?”
Little Chirp killed the rant with a simple question, “What does political parties mean? Are there only two?”
Brainy Bird then went into a lengthy, detailed explanation of political parties. He explained that there are more parties, but the mathematical probability of them being elected is so minute that it means we basically only have two parties. He explained the whole history of political parties in the US and how the parties themselves have moved from one side to another over time. Holy cow! They learned a great deal in Advanced Placement US History.
After the 20 minute or so history lesson, I then asked, “So, you do not consider yourself a Democrat either?”
Brainy Bird shook his head in complete disbelief and waved his arms erratically, “No! Have you not heard anything I just said??”
He is right. Everything in our country has become about left and right, and nothing ever changes. The alignment on one side or the other is detrimental to our country. Hating one side or the other does not make any sense. How could one completely disagree with one side when there is such a diverse set of issues? Is it even clear what side each of the parties is on with many of the social issues?
How do we change the polarized mindset? Trump’s major attribute is that he is not a politician. We need career politicians to go away on both sides; no one can dispute that career politicians have been in office for decades, with themselves being the only beneficiaries of their leadership. Trump’s major downfall is that he has epically pushed the two sides into divisive camps. Is it really that the career politicians are working desperately against Trump, the non-politician, to preserve their ongoing reign or is there a failure in Trump’s leadership as a basic principal in leadership is to unite. I think that both are true; the failure is on both sides.
We need a leader that empowers and unites the leaders of our free world. We need a leader that can empower an effective cabinet to focus on the issues their cabinet is meant to address. Trump has been amazing for our economy, but what about all of the other needs of our country? Could we not have someone in the cabinet that can build our economy back up again, while his fellow cabinet members address social issues? Could we not have a president that seeks to unite our country’s leaders to further our country rather than their broken political parties?
My hope is that Brainy Bird’s generation will produce such a leader. I think that his generation is more informed and more capable than our society gives them credit for. Instead of labeling them with the next letter in the alphabet, I wish we would label them as the generation of new hope and leadership. I think that the worst thing that can happen to Brainy Bird’s generation is that they would begin calling themselves Democrats or Republicans.
I think that change begins with conversations very much like the conversation that Brainy Bird and I had last night.