On America
Longitude and latitude. The two biggest errors that people consistently make in thinking about contemporary issues. Here is what I mean.
Step 1: Is this an America problem, or is this a global problem?
Step 2: Is this an America problem just today, or is this something that has been a problem for the last 100, 500, even 1,000 years?
Space and time. You can’t be so quick to say “America struggles with X” without thinking in terms of both longitude and latitude.
Pick a topic, any topic.
Take racism. It’s an issue in America. Have you been to Europe? It’s worse there. Have you been to Asia? It’s worse there. Have you been to Latin America? It’s worse there. That’s step one. Step two, has this been a problem for 100, 500 and 1,000 years? Yes.
Is there room for improvement, always. Is humanity doing its best to try and solve the problem, always. But to say that something is an America problem is wrong when it is a global and eternal issue with human nature.
Take health insurance. It’s an issue in America. But have you spoken to anyone in Canada? In England? In Japan? Have you found a system in any other developed country that isn’t full of its own respective flaws? And then step two, has this been an issue for hundreds or even thousands of years? Yes, and it always will be, because there is no exact answer to the question at the root of it all: what price should we put on a human life?
Is there room for improvement, always. Is humanity doing its best to solve the problem, always. But to say that this is a problem with America reveals a lack of depth in someone’s critical thinking process.
Take the criminal justice system. It’s an issue in America. Does every other country on earth struggle with this same issue, yes. Has this been a problem for 100 years, 500 years, a thousand years? What do you think?
Is there room for improvement? Yes. Is humanity doing its best to try and figure out a way to break the devil’s master plan, to solve the extraordinarily complex machinations of crime and punishment? Also yes. Quod erat demonstrandum.
Longitude and latitude. Space and time. Anyone taking a stand without delving into those dimensions is missing the plot.
There is also a step three, where I’m not always willing to make the leap: …are we at least moving in the right direction? I think for most issues the answer is yes, but if you want to argue that progress is a myth and that humanity is one eternal series of misfortunes, crimes and follies, where we make the same mistakes over and over and over and never learn from the generations before us…well…I’m not going to argue with you. The more history you read, the more you can’t help but conclude that the argument has a lot of merit.
The last step is step four: you got any better ideas on how to do it? A statement to be directed at someone complaining about this, that or the third. “Thinking is difficult,” wrote Jung, “and that’s why most people judge.” You don’t like America’s healthcare system? Build us one from scratch then, homeboy. People get quiet real quick after they’ve started doing the work required to hold a valid opinion. All the bitching and whining will eventually be replaced with the American system is flawed, but compared to every other country, we’ve got it the best.
There are not very many truly objective thinkers out there and I lost interest long ago in arguing with people who are stubbornly glued to one side of an issue, the ones who stubbornly refuse to see it from the other party’s angle. Their current latitude and longitude is on the left side of Mount Stupid:
I have spent a lot of time on the peak of that mountain. Right now, I can tell I’m somewhere in that valley to the right, because I don’t talk much. Every issue that I had a strong viewpoint on before, I’ve taken the time to understand the opposing angle and the only response I can offer is “shit, I see both sides” or “yeah, this is actually pretty goddamn complicated.” Or it’s something endemic to human nature which never changes and thus can’t be solved, like anything involving race or religion. But for all the hot contemporary issues, health insurance, immigration, criminal justice, gun control, abortion, the perennial fodder that people can’t stop arguing over in every country on earth, like, once you pull your head out of your ass you will realize there is a lot of merit to both sides. The only castles I’m still willing to defend are small government, free markets and low taxes, because I feel like thousands of years of history have my back, but even then, I’m willing to lay down arms and acknowledge the counterpoints and negative externalities of each of those.
Thus concludes our discussion on longitude, latitude, progress and ignorance. Two takeaways for you.
One, open your mind.
Two, nobody’s got it better than us.
As you were,
GB
