Experts have noted that politics in the United States
have become increasingly polarized over the years. People are identifying themselves with either Democrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives. Fewer and fewer people are nonpartisan or
independent of a political party.
In response to this divergence of political parties,
two United States Senators have decided to demonstrate “that a Democratic and
Republican U.S. senator could work together.”
Jeff Flake is an Arizona Republican, and Martin Heinrich is a New Mexico
Democrat. To convince the public of
their claim that the two can indeed cooperate, they spent a week on an
uninhabited island. Their goal was to
work together to succeed in proving their point that “two politicians can
oppose each other on policy yet work together to accomplish something.” Their means of conveying this message is
unconventional: their week on the island was a “Survivor”-like experience that included
fire starting, shelter building and food gathering. However, they hope that people understand the
significance of what they are trying to demonstrate.
For the Senators themselves, it was also naturally a
very beneficial and educational experience.
In addition to getting to better know and understand each other, the men
were able to build a sense of trust. The
New York Post article notes, “Republicans and Democrats have fewer
opportunities to know each other because of a political atmosphere that doesn’t
reward conciliation; it’s a recipe for gridlock.” The two Senators plan on sending letters to their
colleagues suggesting they meet socially once a month to encourage
relationships that will help each other work together and reach compromise.
The point of this is not to say that the Republican
and Democratic political parties will or should be completely merging any time
soon. The best decisions are said to be
made by considering many options and viewpoints, and it is the practice of
Dissoi Logoi that helps us to do this. Wikipedia
defines Dissoi Logoi as something “intended to help an individual gain a deeper
understanding of an issue by forcing him or her to consider it from the angle
of his opponent, which may serve either to strengthen his or her argument or to
help the debaters reach compromise.”
Perhaps a simpler way to understand the term and clarify what it does
for us is to break it down. “Dissoi”
means countervailing, opposing, or two sided arguments. “Logoi” can mean speech, word, message, or
reason. When anyone, in this instance Senators,
make decisions they need to respect and consider all sides of an argument,
understand the reasoning behind every contention and eventually come to the
best possible solution there is for a particular problem.
The trick in today’s world is the eventuality where a
resolution and compromise has to be reached.
With such polarized political parties, this is becoming more and more
difficult. This is why experiences such
at Senator Flake and Senator Heinrich’s island excursion can create a sense of camaraderie
that can translate into a willingness to work together and even look for
compromise. While we do need Dissoi
Logoi, we do not necessarily need extreme polarization in politics. Hopefully recent this “Survivor”-like demonstration,
while unconventional, will be a precursor of the better understanding and
teamwork to come.
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