The political world is so polarized nowadays. There seems to be no middle ground. Now of course, ideologies have existed for centuries. The difference now is that more and more people are parking themselves firmly on the right or the left of the political spectrum. Political centrism is on the retreat. Too bad, because I think that when you adhere strictly to any particular ideology, it's like you're putting yourself in prison. A prison that prevents you from considering any ideas from the other side of the political spectrum that might actually make sense and may be part of a solution to whatever problem you're trying to address.
For example, the topic of immigration is now a very hot-button issue here in Canada now. Unfortunately, the discourse about it is now dominated by those who think we should throw our doors wide open to anyone seeking refuge from some form of hardship or persecution and those that want to slam the doors shut and not let anyone into this country simply because they're from the "wrong" part of the world or don't embrace a rigid, Westernized mindset. What happened to the days when we could be tolerant and welcome people from all over the world, but still keep are borders secure from potential threats?
I can of course cite many other cases where ideology has ruined the discourse on most issues at hand. For instance, people on the left tend to automatically equate private enterprise with greed and inequality, but consider anything controlled by government to be in the public's interest and always the best way forward. In contrast, folks on the rigid right automatically equate anything that is controlled by government as inefficient, bloated and wasteful, while assuming that the private sector always does the job better and more efficiently.
I like to think outside the box that ideology can put people in. So for instance, I am strongly in favour of school choice and some sort of private sector involvement in Canada's health care system. At the same time, however, I don't want American-style two-tier health care, nor do I want to gut public education. I don't want to shut the door on people trying to get into this country, but I don't want people pouring across the border without going through customs and security screenings. And while I don't think public transit runs very well in Toronto and would like the TTC's monopoly to end, I certainly do not support privatizing the TTC and leaving mass transit entirely in the hands of profit-seeking private interests.
Someone once told me that politics is about compromise. But nowadays, people all over the world seem a lot less willing to budge on any given issue. There is less and less room for constructive dialogue. I think this needs to change, otherwise we're in for much more savage times.
