Not going to vote?

[RiverNoord]

37. The word 'enemy' has some very strong connotations.

Its primary proper use is to identify armed opposition during a military conflict. It is also sometimes used to describe internal pressures experienced by a person that the person regards as something approximating a mortal foe. Intense hatred is sometimes described as an enemy by the person experiencing it.

'Opponent' is a general-purpose description used to identify opposing parties in much lower-intensity conflicts, such as sports, games, and political contests. Generally, opponents are choosing to take part in an activity that requires opposition for it to even exist. It's really hard, for example, to play a game of baseball with only one team. It's also very difficult to hold an election with only one person to vote for.

If we are actually divided up into friend and foe, enemy and friendly, over an election, then the country should be nearing open civil war.

I don't quite think that's the case.

Politics isn't that simple. Government isn't that simple. And every person who regards political opponents as 'enemies' (other than, again, during open civil war) is not only taking the competitive aspect of the political process much too seriously, she/he is also dehumanizing large numbers fellow citizens, much like the implementation of wartime propaganda.

Now, I'll admit that Donald Trump is already at a point where even the slightest dehumanization could result in him becoming a different species. But he isn't literally leading an army to seize control of the White House by force.

I would find a Donald Trump presidency to be bizarre and disturbing, and I'd probably make a habit of sending a letter of apology every day to a different country.

But if Donald Trump is 'the enemy,' then so is everyone who would vote for him. And yet, all we're actually doing is holding organized elections to fill government office vacancies.

Just a little something to chew over, I hope.