Everyone seems to be up in arms about fake news. But fake news is merely the symptom of a deeper problem—we trust our fellow citizens less and less. If we trusted each other more we wouldn’t be so quick to believe such outlandish stories portraying our political opponents in monstrous outline. We won’t solve the problem of fake news without rebuilding that trust.
The foundation of a democracy is not the vote. Rather it is the belief in the goodness of your fellow citizens. That is what makes losing an election acceptable. But if we don’t trust each other, if we cannot fathom why anyone would vote for the other party how can we submit to the general will?
My generation doesn’t have the luxury of the moral clarity afforded by fights against Hitler in WWII or the Civil Rights movement. My generation’s challenges of terrorism, environmentalism, multiculturalism and globalization are complicated subjects the solutions of which have little consensus. The modern world is grey, not black and white. Yet too much political discourse depends on painting our leaders in black and white terms. This has been true for many years and we are now reaping its fruit.
I was a student at the University of Alberta in the fall of 2000. The federal election was in full swing and it was the first time I was eligible to vote in one. I attended a forum where the local candidates took questions from the students. A young student stood at the microphone and asked Rahim Jaffer, candidate for the Canadian Alliance, how it felt to be the token brown guy for a racist party. I was shocked and embarrassed that a fellow student could ask such an incendiary question without offering any evidence in support. Mr. Jaffer, then a rising star still years away from the scandals that would end his political career, answered this ridiculous question with remarkable grace.
I lived in Vancouver through Prime Minister Harper’s tenure. During those years every time PM Harper did anything remotely controversial my friends and neighbours would erupt and denounce him as a racist and fascist. I would bet that if you talked to any conservative politician they would tell you they’ve been called a racist.
I’m not so naïve to think that no one is a racist, but loaded words like racist or corrupt or fascist or Nazi should be used with extreme caution. Yes, their use grabs attention, but they’re also the surest way to end a conversation and politics is about conversation. Talk to someone who doesn’t like President-Elect Trump and eventually they’ll say, ‘well he’s a racist’. They say it to win the argument, but what it really means is that this conversation is over. ‘He’s a racist. What else do you need to know?’
It’s easy to characterize our opponents in black and white terms, but that is a lazy and dangerous habit. Each issue must be balanced between opposing interests—sometimes the scales balance, sometimes they tip right, other times they tip left. Immediately going to the worst possible characterization of your opponent’s position just because the scales tip away from you doesn’t help us make progress.
Rather play this game—sure keep in mind the worst-case scenario of each policy proposition, but also think of the best-case scenario. We should always be sceptical, but we can also give each other the benefit of the doubt again. Building trust takes time. I can’t think of a better or more important New Year’s resolution for our troubled world.
Medicine Hat News. January 4, 2017.