Op-Ed: Why is he golfing?

Trumpian sociology in America

Brandt Jager / Op-Ed Contributor / The USD Vista

We are all ruining America. 

Let us be real for a second, our country is in a bit of a pickle. One night, I was having a great, relaxing dinner, when my dad started popping off about how Trump is ruining America. I rolled my eyes and to be honest, those kinds of comments make me angry, but not because I support Trump.

Divisiveness, political polarization, intolerance, and hostility tend to be common themes in our society nowadays. Everyone is mad at someone, and everyone has picked a side. Still, people are not having the conversations they need to be having, and our president is definitely playing a role in that.

Nationalized debates televised for millions to see, rallies that sometimes end in violence, protests, and more; from Charlottesville to Parkland to CNN, these are all examples of occurrences to which we’ve grown accustomed to seeing in our media feeds today. Our current environment encourages that whether you are a Democrat or Republican, you pick a side and fight for that side. American politics can be perfectly described as an “us versus them” battle, where basically any major event, like the Parkland school shooting, becomes politicized, in that specific case being turned into a debate on gun control. It does not take long for mourning and anger to be directed at a specific political opponent or their ideologies. In more liberal circles, that target is often Trump, while in conservative ones, that target can range massively, from immigrants, Islamists, the social elite, or the democratic party as a whole. A perfect example of this is the policy of Medicare being turned into a fight against “Obamacare.” The Huffington Post cites “remarkable parallels between Obamacare and George W. Bush’s Medicare Part D” in a recent article.  Republicans had little issue overall with this policy until adopted and politicized into a Democratic policy, Obamacare. This intense divisiveness is a big problem because it can bleed into everyday life. It catalyzes xenophobia and bigotry, and further solidifies the polarization we see in politics today.

And while this divisiveness results in the U.S. earning a happiness ranking of 108th out of 140 nations (not very good), according to the happy planet index, what is our great president doing? Golfing. Trump’s avoidance subconsciously sends a message to the American people: just ignore it. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.

The current state of our nation has inspired me to invent my own term: Trumpian sociology. I would define Trumpian sociology as being a characteristic of a society that not only faces extreme division and political polarization, but one where its own citizens either don’t care enough or are too afraid of offending someone to voice their political beliefs. As a result, a bystander culture develops, leading youth to be much more passive and uninvolved in that society’s politics. In addition, solutions tend to be lackluster, like shutting down the government for the longest period in history, resulting in a bill that neither party was fully satisfied with (a $400 billion deal) to tackle immigration issues. Compromise today takes being pushed and forced to a point where both sides can hazily agree. It’s like a sick man pouring hydrogen peroxide and placing Band-Aids on a five foot, festering, cancerous wound.  Government shutdowns don’t fix anything. Politicians can pretend it’s effective, but we all know it’s not. We all know it’s only a matter of time before things go septic.

San Diego is in an interesting position as being very liberal in the dense, urban areas, while being in a very conservative county. According to recent polling data from Voice of San Diego, the Alpine neighborhood (precinct) is 62 percent Republican.  Coronado is 42 percent Republican, and Encanto is 61 percent Democrat, showing quite a lot of voter diversity.  San Diego as a whole has 509,359 voters with “no party preference” as of August. This diversity in political beliefs is even more of a reason to have difficult conversations about our opinions, but it isn’t happening.

I have not personally had a very serious, in-depth conversation about politics with a single person since arriving at USD.  In America, strong associations with Christianity tend to be associated with Republicanism. As a Catholic school in a liberal city in California, with so many different beliefs being present, I get the feeling that people are afraid to offend. Students do not want to voice their true opinions because they are concerned about what others will think of them, and rightfully so. America’s environment of intense hostility toward the opposing political party, on both sides, encourages people to just stay silent.

This political avoidance is effectively excused by our president when he chooses to go golfing at his resort instead of starting any type of intelligent dialogue. Recently, Trump has called off peace talks with the Afghani Taliban and delayed negotiations with North Korea. When people who disagree don’t talk, nobody learns, nobody grows, and everybody just gets walled off more and more into their little bubble of beliefs. Hostility leads to ignorance and hatred, which leads to more hostility, and it is tearing our country apart.

You do not have to like someone else’s beliefs, but that’s not an excuse to avoid and ignore them. Participate in challenging dialogue as hatred rises, voice your opinions so that we can all grow from each other. By listening and really hearing someone else’s beliefs, we can make USD and our country a more inclusive place.