Happy Bipartisanship Week!
Across the Great Divides
At some point in the last seven years, I discovered it was easier for me to discuss the divisive and difficult topic of gender with conservatives than with lefties. Maybe it was the presumption of disagreement that created the space: there was no shock at how unaligned we were. The surprise—the gift—was the alignment.
This week, I want to focus on that surprising alignment. If you’ve been co-regulating with someone across the political divide, or have found yourself in an unlikely and unexpected partnership, please pipe up this week. I’ll have a few essays and an open thread in the days to come.
Happy MLK day tomorrow.
I personally have yet to undergo an "across the aisle" moment on the specific issue of gender. What I do find is that, as someone who learned their politics at a time when left-wing politics was still unequivocally grounded in Enlightenment rationality and democratic universalism, it is becoming easier for me to get along with, and engage in dialogue with, people who aren't on the left but who do base their politics on Enlightenment rationality and democratic universalism, than with those on the left whose leftism is grounded in something else.
I was raised in a home with a Reagan Republican dad and a Union member Democrat mom. They taught that we need people with different values to keep our country's path somewhat straight. Mom likened it to rowing a canoe - you need to change sides or you run into the bank.
I am pro-human. As long as my conversation partner can simply respect me as a fellow human, I'm good.
We have many hurting and scared people in this country. We also have plenty of people who assume that anyone who doesn't share their values is unworthy. I have compassion on the first group and am always exasperated with the latter. Yes, I have encountered both types at both ends of the left-right spectrum.
Thanks for your work! Keep it up.