Marc Abear: Is it better to not declare allegiance to one party?

To The Daily Sun,

Members of the armchair class spend their days obsessing. They use a lot of ink writing about the "future of the party.” Think about that for a minute — the future of the party. We read in the paper daily about bipartisanship, nonpartisan elections, and party unity.

Our armchair aristocrats want us to buy into the premise: If we all just get along, we’ll all be better off. It’s not true, but people say it a lot. We do need to be tolerant of different positions. But being tolerant means attacking the issue, not the person, when debating the merits of a subject.

Today in politics we are infected with a bipartisan, nonpartisan, party unity disease. The problem is manifesting in intolerance of differing views. Both political parties are enduring atrophy as the uniparty — the undeclareds — rise.

We should be inviting different views and respecting the right to hold them. Respect for and ensuring debate is what undergirds free speech. Having the debate is how we learn the most, the fastest. When you can't convince a debate opponent of the merit of your position it’s time to examine your position. Isn’t that the seed of compromise?

We have a much better chance of avoiding problems when we tolerate criticism. Our enemies will tell us what our friends often will not. There is value in respecting the right of an ignorant person to hold and express a position. What better opportunity for a teaching moment?

Did you know that in Massachusetts 10% of the electorate is Republican, 30% of the electorate is Democrat and the balance, 60%, belongs to the uniparty? Massachusetts isn’t so very far from Russia, China, North Korea or Venezuela. When there is only one party you better hope it is yours because you live in tyranny.

Marc Abear

Meredith