Youth Conservatives of Texas protest, Austin TX
Photo credit: Angela Wang, The Daily Texan
“I came back and killed the woman who gave me birth. I don’t deny it. My father was dear, and this was vengeance for his blood,” explains the unremorseful son, Orestes, in the Greek tragedy The Oresteia. This premeditated murder was but the last in a series of killings tracing back to Orestes’s grandfather killing his brother’s children. Since then, each subsequent generation has plotted and enacted revenge on their progenitors, justifying their atrocities by claiming past wrongdoings.
In this tale of revenge and justice written by Aeschylus, there was never talk of compromise, forgiveness, or understanding—only violence begetting increasing levels of violence. American democracy has not degraded to the level at which political opponents simply kill off those that have wronged them; however, when political ideologies clash, the extreme polarization of American citizens is frighteningly reminiscent of the division between factions of Orestes’s family.
At first glance, polarization among political parties and their supporters may not seem to be such a major issue. Of course they would disagree with each other, one may say; they’re in different parties for a reason. While it would be nice to write off this division as an inevitable consequence of the two party system, the fact is that the divide is only becoming larger. A new Pew Research Center study displays how since 1994, “the average partisan gap has increased from 15 percentage points to 36 points”.
Polarization in and of itself is not inherently detrimental to democracy; however, politics and morality are so inextricably intertwined that both political parties end up thinking that their position is the morally superior one. Seen through this lens, anyone who disagrees with the “morally superior” point of view is simply degenerate. In effect, an attitude of moral superiority leads to there being an infinitely small probability that either side will be willing to compromise, for who would give up their principles? University of Illinois professor of psychology Linda Skitka describes strong moral convictions such as these as “pretty much akin to your belief that 2+2=4”, and goes on to question “Can you imagine somebody being able to persuade you off of that conclusion?” That conviction is exactly why every moral, political issue ranging from immigration reform to abortion is a hill both parties are willing to die on.
One common example of parties seeking revenge for past wrongdoings is the recent fights to appoint Supreme Court Nominees. In response to Republicans obstructing the nomination of then Supreme Court Justice nominee Merrick Garland, Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told CNN that he would fight a Trump nominee to the Supreme Court “…tooth and nail, as long as [he] would have to”. This is the exact type of behavior New York Times Bestseller How Democracies Die co-authors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt warn against when explaining how democracies end. They argue that the idea that Democrats should “’fight like Republicans’” is misguided due to three key reasons: historical evidence suggests that it may in fact help an authoritarian state to arise, it would scare off moderates, and it would only reinforce the hyper-polarization and partisanship that led to the election of Trump in the first place.
Currently the trajectory of increasing polarization has our nation spiraling towards an implosion in which widespread violence erupts due to unresolvable differences in political thought. If we want to have even a slither of hope of saving this democracy, we need to be better. Change starts by keeping protests, such as the one appearing in the header photo, peaceful rather than inflicting violence upon those we disagree with. Change starts by abandoning attitudes of moral superiority and replacing them with empathy. Change starts with forgiveness.
Twenty-five hundred years ago, Aeschylus wove together a tapestry of murder and betrayal, of power and agency, of individuals who were willing to murder their own family in order to mete out justice. And in all the time since then, we still haven’t learned. American democracy is on a rapid decline, due to the highly destructive mindsets of the American people, each of whom considers themselves to be the ultimate authority on moral and political issues. The Oresteia ought to be taken into consideration as a cautionary tale; should we, as a nation, choose to hold so tightly onto our own ideologies that we are left without the ability to compromise, we can expect our democracy to meet its own tragic end.
