Protest is healthy, but living in a bubble won't change a thing
It’s been just over two weeks since America woke to the sobering fact that billionaire businessman and reality television star Donald Trump was going to be the next President of the United States.
It’s real, it’s happening, and setting aside any fantasies about Electoral College shenanigans, on January 20th, Donald Trump will become the 44th person to be sworn in as leader of our nation. (History buffs will know why he’ll be the 45th President but only the 44th to hold the office. Hint: look up Grover Cleveland.)
To say the news was met with disbelief and downright anger by many would be a bit of an understatement. However, it can pretty safely be said that such reactions would have happened regardless of which candidate had won, for we are living in one of the most polarized political eras in our history, second only to the pre-Civil War era.
Within a day of the election, protests both organized and unorganized broke out in cities across the country. Some, sadly, turned violent, while others were, also sadly, met with authoritative resistance.
The right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Many may disagree with such protests, and many (like myself), are bothered by rabble-rousers who forget the “peaceably” part of the First Amendment, but the fact remains that protest is a right that is as American as it can get.
So if you feel the need to protest, protest away. Gather in groups large or small, take to social media, convince a newspaper to publish your opinions; do whatever it takes to express yourself, content in the knowledge that such protest is what makes us Americans. Just don’t expect the very people you are protesting about or against to pay you any attention or do anything to address or even acknowledge your concerns or needs.
For the fact is that in a world where access to accurate and timely information is greater and easier than at any time in history, fewer and fewer are reading or listening to those that disagree with them.
It’s called “confirmation bias” and is the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories while disregarding any other information or evidence that doesn’t confirm your own beliefs and opinions. And this is not a problem of just one group: it permeates through all groups and beliefs.
And social media has played a large part in feeding confirmation bias, where people tend to befriend and interact with those who share their bias while ignoring or dismissing those that don’t.
So how can any true political change occur when no one “on the other side” is listening? It’s both difficult and easy at the same time.
The easy part is to actually start listening to everyone, especially those that hold different beliefs. Think about why they feel the way they do, try to put yourselves in their shoes, see if you can understand them instead of dismissing them outright. You don’t have to agree with them, but understanding can go a long way to finding common ground.
The difficult part is analyzing why you believe the way you do. Critical self-analysis is the most difficult, but most crucial part of change. Expecting everyone else to change to see things your way simply isn’t realistic.
And with honest self-analysis, combined with broadening your information base, you might even change your worldview a bit. Or find an even better reason to protest.
Michael Thomas is a regular contributor to The Pulse, writing on a variety of issues both cultural and political. He recently completed a six-month stint as editor of a national polling aggregator and opinion website and admits he predicted everything about as well as everyone else did.