If we keep eating our own, others will eat our lunch. [View all]
That's my opinion, anyhow. You and I may agree on twenty things and disagree on one thing. That one thing may be very important to me. That one thing may be very important to you. If you reject me or I reject you for that difference of opinion and declare that we cannot cooperate to achieve what we agree about, we will not be able to form a consensus on much. Without consensus, we will not have enough people to accomplish great things.
This nation of 300+ million ends up being governed by enormous coalitions of people with diverse positions on many subjects. Because we elect our leaders in a more or less democratic method, those coalitions end up controlling government.
Those who cannot form coalitions with others cannot rule. This is why third parties fail. This is why neither the far right or far left end up with a great deal of power in politics. This is why centrism ends up being the uniform of the day in our elections. This is why we elect Republicans sometimes and Democrats other times.
On what do you and I disagree? Do you know? Do you care? On what do we agree? If we agree on more than we disagree, perhaps we might be able to form a coalition. But we may have to disagree politely on some things. If we cannot, there will be no coalition. Does disagreement on one issue mean that we cannot be part of the same coalition?
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