Guidelines for Political Distancing
Social distancing is currently our first priority, but it's also our responsibility to stop the spread of hyper-partisanship.
There’s this thing where gamers from different areas of the country travel to meet in person after first meeting online and bonding for several months or years in the virtual realm. I always thought that was kind of interesting, maybe even a little weird. Then it happened to me in a different virtual wasteland we call social media. Technically, I still haven’t done an in-person meet up with this dude, but we’re total bros now so it’s only a matter of time. What do we owe our bond? Our shared love of the greatest franchise in the history of, never mind, I can’t even utter those words anymore—we both love the perennially almost-great Dallas Cowboys. (Please, don’t all unsubscribe at once.)
The Cowboys franchise tagged Dak Prescott last week which led to a debate between me and Danny, my cyber-homie. Long story short, we disagree about how good Dak is as a quarterback; Danny thinks Dak is one of the top five quarterbacks in the NFL and I don’t. However, we still respect each other and root equally hard for Dak Prescott every Sunday during football season.
My daughter (Emmy) and I even have matching Dak jerseys:
It’s not hard to understand why I pull for Dak despite my concerns about parts of his game. In the words of Terrell Owens, “that’s my quarterback.” To root against him would be to root against my ‘Boys.
Not only am I a fan of America’s Team, but of actual America. So, I got to thinking about how much more respectful and productive our civil discourse would be if we altered our approach to political conservations.
After all, we Americans are on the same team. Democrats, Republicans and others just disagree regularly about what changes should be made to help our squad prosper and who should be the quarterback. Much like professional football teams, America always has to make a choice between imperfect candidates to be its leader. Other than Tom Brady, no perfect people exist and he’s still somehow unavailable to run for office. (By the way, you’re about to learn you have a lot of friends that are Bucs fans.)
Once elected, it’s our job as a people to evaluate the performance of the president (this goes for all elected officials) and when their contract is up, we decide if they deserve another one. If they really stink, there’s even a way to get out of the deal early. In the meantime between elections, can’t we all get along like Danny and me? (We actually disagree on politics often. Who cares, I’m used to people being wrong.)
We Americans have our differences. If we didn’t we wouldn’t much need a government to begin with. Yet, these differences should not be viewed critically. Our diversity of skin color, origin, and ideas is what makes America strong. Hatred, on the other hand, will decay the social cohesion and institutions our nation depends on.
While fighting the coronavirus is our main priority today, the spread of fanaticism and animosity in our politics—aka, the Deplorable Snowflake Virus (DSV)—is not insignificant. More people are infected with it than the coronavirus. Fortunately, DSV is easy to fight with political distancing.
Guidelines for Political Distancing:
Don’t talk politics. This is an oldie, but a goodie. There was an old saying about not discussing religion and politics at the office for a reason. This rule should now be extended to social media. We enjoy associating, through work or other endeavors, with people all the time that we unknowingly don’t agree with politically. Keep your views private and that need not change. Make your views public and those that disagree with your position(s) will look at you differently, whether that’s fair or not. All of a sudden people will think you’re a communist/bigot/nazi/moron because you have an opinion they disagree with.
Share responsibly. At it’s best, the internet provides access to more information than we could ever consume, including great journalism shared on social media. I’m friends with former college professors and other specialists on Facebook that share articles I might not otherwise see. They shouldn’t stop engaging in subjects they’re passionate about because some halfwit might get triggered. Yet, we should not engage in purposely “owning” or angering those we disagree with. For your consideration:
Make sure you’re not sharing something demonstrably false.
Avoid partisan political memes when you can. Even the most clever ones oversimplify what are usually complex subjects. At their worst, they’re misguided and/or poke fun at the other side. It’s hard to persuade someone when you’re implying how stupid you think they are. If it’s just too perfect and you decide to share it, just know it probably comes at a cost.
Resist sharing political headlines everyone already knows about or soon will. We probably got the alert on our phone too. An example would be something like, “Trump Becomes Third Impeached President in US History.” Both sides already know this, stop the petty prodding, peckerwood!
Do not engage. This is for when you’re just engaging in a lil’ afternoon ‘scrollage on the Facebook, minding everyone else’s business and some egregiously dumb shit stops you in your thumb-tracks. I repeat, do not engage. You could have video proof and you still won’t convince them that they’re wrong, despite your good intentions which, be honest, you probably don’t have. It’s your primal instinct to rid society of those that shouldn’t reproduce that has kicked in and manifested itself in ugly ways that could cost you hours of your life (perhaps days if it becomes a habit) if you decide to engage. I once read that arguing on social media is a vice masquerading as a virtue. Please pay heed to those words.
Don’t dehumanize. This one is pretty simple. Stop using words like “democRATS” and “deplorables.” The list goes on. Children are listening. Enough said.
Escape the matrix. When you spend a lot of time inside the narratives manufactured by social media algorithms and the mainstream media, your sense of reality becomes warped. A Twitter troll or tv pundit will use one crazy liberal or conservative out of millions of Americans to characterize the whole lot. Then, because Silicon Valley knows your every thought, they place the story about the crazy person in your feed so you’ll interact with it continuing the vicious cycle of outrage. Over time, you begin to truly believe any Democrat or Republican is crazy when they’re really just common folks standing a minimum of six feet from you in the toilet paper line.
Check your identity. Have you ever noticed how a person’s behavior changes when their self-identity changes? The result can be positive or negative, or even benign. If a person begins to identify as a Christian, they might start being nicer to their enemies (positive result). If a person gets into skateboarding not only do they, of course, start skateboarding, but they might start wearing different styles and brands to align other parts of their life with their new identity (benign, doesn’t hurt anybody). People also tend to change their behavior when they begin to identify with a certain political movement. A man that starts to view themselves as a conservative might feel they should buy a truck and a gun depending on what they understand as conservatism. Likewise, a woman that newly identifies as a progressive might start buying a different coffee brand. (Worst case scenario: they stop shaving their armpits. Best case scenario: they free the nipple.)
Research even shows that some people alter their religious behavior based on their political affiliation. We all know that sinner that became a Republican and now their Facebook feed is like:
Anyway, the point here is that when our identity becomes inseparable from our political perspective, it lends itself to viewing those with different views as the enemy because of our monkey hardwiring. By check your identity, I don’t mean stop being a Christian conservative that loves guns, I’m saying don’t feel like if you’re a liberal that you can’t love guns. There are a lot of false dichotomies out there. More importantly, what I’m saying is consider placing less importance on your political affiliation in forming your identity. When descriptions like dad, mom, husband, wife, neighbor, human being, and American come before party, it’s easier to see ourselves in others.
Be humble. Last but not least, admit that you’re not an omniscient being with all the answers. (If you are, please make yourself known because 2020 needs you and thanks for letting me entertain you, I’m flattered.) Consider these questions. Do you really know that Trump is racist? Do you know exactly how we should deal with global terrorism? Are you sure you know precisely what the Federal Reserve discount rate should be and how much we should tax the one percent? Know how to deal with the nuclear threat from Iran and North Korea? I’m reminded of this:
By all means, try to understand the world around you and engage in conversations wherever they may be had; political distancing isn’t about disengaging. Just remember that we almost always have incomplete information and we could all do worse than being more humble.
If you’re new to Nuts & Bolts, it’s a weekly newsletter with some extra content added for flavor. What you just read about political distancing (yes, I made it up, that’s how terms get started so just go with it) is part of the flavor. Click here to learn more about me and the purpose behind my writing. Finally, the news…
News Rundown
After receiving bipartisan support in Congress, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act into law Wednesday.
Notable details:
The tweet lists what’s included in the law. The part about paid sick leave means up to 10 days at a maximum of $511 per day.
Employers with 500 employees or more are exempt from the paid sick leave mandate. This applies to nearly half of all private-sector workers in America. However, an overwhelmingly majority of these workers already have access to some paid sick leave and many large firms like Amazon are providing paid sick leave voluntarily. All in all, over 6 million big business workers will have no paid sick leave.
The law also exempts businesses with fewer than 50 employees in many cases in order to protect the viability of the business. Over 25% of private-sector workers work in such businesses. All in all, about 12 million workers could go without paid sick leave due to small business exemptions.
The provision that gives employees the right to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected family leave (partially paid) to care for a sick family member or a child whose school is closed also exempts small and large businesses.
For those businesses not exempt, tax credits are available to help offset the costs associated with law.
In addition to this action taken by the federal government, there are now proposals that would provide billions in loans and tax cuts to businesses, as well as checks of up to $1,200 to individuals making less than $99k per year.
President Trump started referring to COVID-19 as the “Chinese Virus” on Wednesday.
Of course, many have since jumped to attack or defend the president’s use of the term. When asked why he used it he said, “because it comes from China.” While no one outside of the Chinese government disputes his statement on the origin of the coronavirus, some fear the continued use of the term could harm Asian Americans.
Whatever your position may be on that petty kerfuffle, it is clear that the Chinese government has acted in bad faith since the outbreak of the pandemic:
In December, a doctor in Wuhan tried to warn fellow doctors about several cases of a virus he thought looked like SARS. Then he was silenced by the police; he has since died.
Chinese journalists that tried to spread awareness have disappeared.
Well into January, Chinese authorities and their propaganda apparatus misled the world about the transmission of the virus, even disputing its origins and going so far as to suggest it started in the US.
At a time when the world needs information from China, their government has kicked out American journalists there (and in Hong Kong) working for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. They say this is in response to the US limiting the number of people working for China’s main state-owned media organizations in the US.
After winning the Arizona, Florida, and Illinois primaries on Tuesday, Joe Biden now leads Bernie Sanders 1,201 to 896 in the race to 1,991. (Ohio postponed their primary until June.)
With an ongoing pandemic and Biden’s nearly insurmountable lead, Bernie was asked on Wednesday about a time frame for him dropping out of the race. His response: “I’m dealing with a f**king global crisis.” Ouch. I guess he’s feeling the bern.
Presented Without Comment: This Sucks Edition
#TogetherAtHome
Several music artists and other celebrities performed from home this week to brighten the mood and remind us that we’re all in it together. Enjoy, they’re worth your time to click on.
Two gems from John Legend.
Three from Chris Martin of Coldplay.
Keith Urban, live from his warehouse. Skip to 2:53 to see Nicole Kidman shake it. You’re welcome.
Josh Gad, voice of Frozen’s Olaf, also shaking it. I can’t wait to ruin Olaf for Emmy when I show her this, lol.
Until Next Time
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We're Too Dependent on China for Too Many Critical Goods
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