Conflict and Polarization

With the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, there comes a widening of the gap between Right and Left. To be fair, Kavanaugh did not cause it, he is simply to token point around which the gather storm has gathered.

What was once an America united around the Constitution and our founding principles, has come an America divided by contrasting philosophies, if you can call it a philosophy at all. To the right are those who hold fast to the Constitution and its principles. To the left is a divergence from anything definable as an organized philosophy. It is more of a passion and an emotion, better aligned with the absence of philosophy and meaning than with any central though or principle.

This shift of ‘meaning’ leaves the leaders of the nation with no means of compromise. The adjustment of law or of policy to accommodate the people depends on a point of compromise, a middle ground, a pivotal average. But, while the Right has remained grounded on the principles of constitutional conservatism, the left has moved so far to the left that there is no middle ground. The pivot point of the teeter totter has been destroyed.

So, predictably, there will be trouble. The passions of the left-leaning mob have already shown its ability to resort to means outside of the law, and that is predictable also, for the rule of law is the fabric of constitutional commitment and without it, there is no law, only the gathering storm of the mob and its passions.

The trajectory of this divide is serious. In order for us to come together, we will have to find some catalyst around which we can gather. If we do not, then we are in for troubled times.