Letters to the Editor
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Politics is warfare by a different name
It used to be "warfare is politics by a different name". Today, it is in reverse order.
All of us are repugs or Dems for some singular reason. Something in our adolescence made us identify with one party or the other. Prior to 1960, everything was class-oriented based on economics, whilst the GOP were the WASPish types who ran everything except Hollywood and the Dems were the working class or the intellectual classes. Nobody but whites were allowed to vote so politics meant debating taxes and the Cold War. Such mundane topics ultimately led to compromise because economics is a fungible commodity; it can be divided up. The only issue was who got how much.
Move the clock ahead by 40 years and politics today has relatively nothing to do with economics and everything to do with spiritual and religious values. These values are very personal and we have lost the ability to compromise without compromising these core values. This causes everyone to pre-judge everyone based upon their party affiliation. It is no wonder that families get torn apart by these labels we attach to others, rightly or wrongly.