November 7th, 2016

Tomorrow we citizens of the U.S. will choose a new President (and many other elected positions). I’m more than ready for this election to be over so we can start the hard work of healing and coming together again. The past year or so I've seen and heard a lot about how this election has divided us to unprecedented extents. I don't mean to minimize how bizarre this year has been politically, how unlike previous campaigns this presidential race and the rhetoric surrounding it has been, but I don't think that's quite correct. We have been more divided before—see "American Civil War”—but that aside I'm not entirely convinced this election really has split the U.S. in two. It seems to me that it has merely shown us how divided we always were, deeper down, below the level of openness any of us were comfortable with, beyond what we disclosed to others.

Sure, the divide has grown as each side attacks the other with increasing vitriol and hate. Yes, it has gotten much harder to find suitable places on each side of the chasm to even build the foundations for a bridge, much less successfully span the gap between us. But the rift between the staunch supporters of each major-party presidential candidate was always there.

Neither major-party presidential candidate has really inspired their followers to stand behind any new causes. They have merely legitimized what their supporters already thought. And that, to me, is more depressing than it is anything else. We have so much more work to do before we really can claim to be a land of opportunity and equality for all. Racism, sexism, bigotry, xenophobia, lies, fear-mongering, corruption, bullying, and, at the root of it all, a blatant lack of respect for basic human dignity have all been normalized over the course of this presidential campaign. Both sides have played a part in some of these. One far more than the other, and I think anyone who is honest with themselves knows which side that is, but to differing extents both major-party candidates—and certainly their supporters—are guilty.

Perhaps it's the social convention banning political discussion from family gatherings for the sake of getting along that deserves some of the blame here; it certainly creates a narrative that discussing politics and getting along are mutually exclusive. When respectful political discourse is not a part of interacting with people we know and love, the stage is set for election years like this. Now most political arguments lurk in semi-anonymous social media feeds where respect is absent and people who disagree with us are nameless, faceless "others." Perhaps if we started discussing real issues with close friends and family more, we might begin to realize why those on the other side think and feel as they do. They usually have a reason.

That may be a good first step, but it might take more than engaging in real, constructive discussions with friends and family. I recently watched the very disappointing Independence Day: Resurgence which, though little more than an excuse to see Jeff Goldblum and some combat between aliens and humans, raised one very interesting point. The premise builds on the first Independence Day film, wherein aliens come to destroy earth and are repelled by ‘Merica and Freedom (it’s not nearly as bad as I make it sound). Twenty years later the world is at peace, having united in the face of a threatening “other” while realizing our common humanity. As a side note, Africa (I don’t recall a reference to a more specific locale than the whole continent) seems to be forgotten when the world united. Warlords there have apparently been fighting aliens in hand-to-tentacle combat since the first movie. I’d say it’s an intentional commentary on how easily we overlook the Third World, but I rather doubt it.

Getting back to my point here. Sometimes it takes something terrible and different to unite people, to make people see that, compared to the new threat, they really have a lot in common. In the Independence Day Movies, it takes an alien invasion for us to put aside our petty differences. Throughout history squabbling groups have allied against a third, more different group. Human nature urges us to band together with those we consider to be like us, the better to defend against those who are different. Viewing the world as an "us vs. them" dichotomy is a simultaneously uniting and dividing force. It all depends on who is in and who is out.

I suspect we will soon see many appeals to patriotism and calls to unify the United States against ISIS, Russia, China, or some other entity. And that’s just as sad as the division within the U.S. right now. Those are still groups of people. I wish the ‘others’ we united against were things like war itself, climate change, and systemic poverty. For me, cancer is a terrible threat we should unite and rally against. There are many other legitimate issues we must work together to solve, but casting our fellow humans in the role of “terrible other” is dangerous at best. That’s how we stay divided.

Repairing the growing rift between those allied with different political parties will be difficult. Those who label themselves—or more often label others—as “liberal” or “conservative” like those are derogatory words seem almost beyond reconciliation. I hope that is not the case. I hope that, whoever gets elected, we can start working together and having real conversations about serious issues. It starts with our conversations, our interactions with the people around us. But it must not come at the cost of unity with people elsewhere.