Civics vs. Politics
Perhaps I am naive. I probably am. I've noticed, as the moderators have, a distinct amount of bickering. In my humble, naive opinion, this bickering seems to be the result of a focus on politics, rather than civics.
I view the two, correctly or incorrectly, as the following: Politics is the focus on a sectarian viewpoint, either of the party or of the issue. Civics is the focus on the qualities that constitute an informed opinion, regardless of what one's side of an issue is. Almost by definition, we must disagree within our community about politics, and these disagreements are based on matters of fact as much as on matters of principle, and can become rancorous, degenerating into a sort of "It is!"-"It is not!" sort of debate, as facts either are, or are not. On the other hand, matters of civics are matters of principle. I think that in large part we agree on matters of principle. For example, we tend to agree that a well-educated populace is beneficial to our state, that war is an evil that should be avoided, but sometimes cannot be. We tend to disagree on matters of fact in the application of those principles, for example which funding level will best promote a well-educated populace, or whether war can or cannot reasonably be avoided.
I think that we have tended to focus more on politics, rather than civics, which means that we have tended to focus more on what divides us rather than on what unites us. Sometimes I think we need to step back and look at what our core values are as a community, rather than on matters of fact which are numerous, and subject to error as to their determination. Principles are timeless. Facts are continually changing. A situation which exists today will be gone in a year or so, and is normally complex enough that it is impossible to address the facts of a given situation without writing a set of encyclopedias on it.
Reading people's posts on the controversial subjects, I think we agree on principles, but disagree on particulars. I think we would do well to remember the principles we share before we slam another person's application of facts to those principles.
Just my naive opinion.
happybrew
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