The federal budget has been proposed and it is, in a word, damning. Commonly held standards, such as guaranteed meals for children living on or below the poverty line, have been placed on the chopping block. Programs that have been benefitting veterans and the elderly for years may yet see their final days under the Trump administration. Should the proposed budget be adopted, we can expect to see a dramatically different American landscape. The environment has suddenly become a cause that is a “waste of money” and cutting Meals on Wheels is a concept that should be regarded as “compassionate.” George Orwell’s conception of governmental “doublespeak” has become a reality that is recognizable in nearly every Trump press conference.
The federal budget proposal has, in keeping with the theme of this administration, brought with it cries of outrage from the Left and moderate conservatives. Amidst these protests and complaints, there is a far different sound from the Right. From the most fervent Trump supporter, we hear baseless arguments intended to silence anyone in opposition. Still, there are softer voices heard saying that we should give this administration a chance. That perhaps everything truly isn’t as bad as the “fake media” wants us to believe. It should be noted that this softer voice speaks largely from a position of white privilege. The average straight, white, Christian man has nothing to worry about in the Trump administration while minority groups, women, and immigrants are faced with increasingly harsh realities.
On both the Right and the Left, we can observe examples of individuals being so overcome with party loyalty that they no longer use critical thinking skills to distinguish facts from fiction. Knee-jerk reactions have replaced careful analysis. Deeply ingrained prejudices and biases have stolen the spotlight. Arrogant anti-intellectualism parades as fact. Somewhere along the line, Americans have been taught to believe that their unsubstantiated opinions are on par with experts in any given field. Either we have lost, or have never had, the ability to recognize our own intellectual shortcomings. Certainly there are different kinds of knowledge, but it is unwise to suppose that you know better than someone who has devoted their entire life to a specific subject.
Many Americans have become so comfortably ignorant that they have no desire to broaden their world-views or to increase their understanding of the opposition. Moreover, this is not only a comfortable ignorance, but also a prideful ignorance. Trump has encouraged the browbeating of protestors, distrust in the media and federal agencies, etc. It is no coincidence that many neo-Nazis (masquerading under the title of the “Alt-Right”) fanatically support Trump and his policies.
Americans seem to have lost the ability to hold moral principles over party ties. We live in an age of hyper-partisanship where we consistently choose to immediately defend our political parties when a certain policy or politician is questioned. We defend or attack policies that, at best, we understand on a superficial level. Our familiarity with complicated policy issues often does not extend past the headline of a sensationalistic article or a disgruntled friend’s social media post.
Many issues should be able to be discussed with a decent amount of commonality between parties. Differences on funding or implementation will inevitably arise on any given issue, but there should be no question on the worthiness of programs that feed underprivileged children. There should be no question on the worthiness of affordable housing programs, or of the right to healthcare. However, all you have to do is engage in conversations with individuals deeply on the Right or Left to observe a disturbing trend.
It has been my experience that it is useless to debate policy with someone who lacks critical thinking skills. These individuals, on both sides of the political spectrum, are typically very loud in their protest or defense of particular issues or persons. It is seemingly impossible for individuals with such ingrained ideologies to go against a bias or prejudice that they have been taught to believe. Rather than assessing new evidence and reforming previously held beliefs, they cling to original assumptions, often using conspiracy theories or cries of “fake news” as justification.
How do we cure this illogical thinking that has infiltrated the highest levels of our government? I would argue that we must start early in the lives of our children. Our country is now reaping the benefits of a society built on underfunded public educators and schools. I can tell you from personal experience that the education a child receives in a rural school district is vastly different from the education a child receives in a more populated, wealthy area. I was ignorant of this fact until I began college. Conversations with friends soon revealed that my educational experience and theirs were worlds apart.
If we hope to have a reasonable society, we must start in our public school classrooms. More than that, we must start in our cafeterias and after school programs. The idea that children would benefit from having their meals taken away is a fallacy. My message to you is this: We cannot grow as a country if all of our children are not afforded the same educational considerations. We are losing the ability to process information in a logical manner, and it is critical that we work towards reversing this anti-intellectual epidemic on both sides of the aisle.
