Finding common ground

I hear the most about the 'liberal agenda' from conservatives. I hear the most about conservative beliefs from liberals. Both sides spend more time denouncing what they think the other side believes rather than learn what those beliefs really are.

Funny thing: conservatives are technically liberals. Did you know that? The term

“'Conservative” is short for “Conservative Liberalism” while the term “liberal” is short for “Liberal Socialism.”

They are both variants of the more general political ideology of Liberalism: the belief in liberty, consent of the governed, and equality before the law.

This is the one thing both sides have in common and is by far greater than the other things they don't. The goals of the right and left are virtually the same, they just differ in implementation.

But you wouldn't think that based on how one describes the other.

We could blame the media for promoting this strife, and they do have their share of the blame, from disingenuous news companies, personality cults, demagogues, echo-chamber algorithms in social media, and even foriegn powers masquerading as grass root activists online.

But ultimately we choose to listen to them.

Tune these people out. Stop letting others' opinions become your own. Befriend those different from you. Accept those differences and find a common ground.

That is what it means to be an American.

Forest Rhodes