Every Yin requires a Yang. Coins have heads and tails. If one thing is black, another must be white. There are two sides to every argument. There is right and wrong, good and bad. the only thing I remember about algebra is that both sides of the equation have to balance. Balance sheets must show equality between assets and liabilities. As more than a few have complained, I am fond of saying “on the one hand this, but on the other hand that.” We think in binary terms far more often than we would like to admit.
When we talk about our divided nation, or the divisiveness in politics, or the rude and hateful language of political extremism, it is natural to assume there must be some form of equivalency on each side. Life, it turns out, is not binary. False equivalency is a trap too easily fallen into. To be clear about it, during the Trump and MAGA era there is only one place from which hateful extremist language has come. There is only one source of language that challenges the legitimacy of American democracy or the fairness of its elections. There is only one source of the constant barrage of personal attacks, threats of retaliation, and a flood of fact checked lies. There is nothing that requires a critical evaluation of one campaign be balanced by an equally critical evaluation of the other. Each has to stand on its own merits.
A friend wrote recently that he was disgusted by the extreme language from both the left and the right. The problem is it is very hard to find extreme campaign language from other candidates. They are certainly there but in such small numbers that their singular voices carry little weight and nobody pays them much attention. That does not excuse them, but there is no equivalency. Holy Scripture condemns language from any person that defiles them, you, me and anyone else. Jesus said,“Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.” For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7)
The boundaries of public debate in the American democratic process extend from conservative to liberal each seeking in good faith the right to public policies enhancing the common good. But the boundaries do not stray too far from the middle with the expectation there is a way to reach an acceptable agreement. This breaks down when demands for one way only defeat the ability to reach a workable agreement. It is particularly troublesome when that breakdown can be engineered by a small minority of legislators, which is what happened in the last decade or so.
I am not making the Trump MAGA crowd out to be the bad guys, and Democrats the good guys. That would be the kind of binary false equivalency that I object. I want to be equally clear that the Trump MAGA supporters are the extremists at this time. Their language is offensive to American values and virtues. Their policies, at least as expressed in project 2025, are a real threat to American democracy and our unique form of private enterprise. Trump’s own policy pronouncements are vague, grandiose, and flop all over the place. To say so is not divisive extremism. It is simply a statement of verifiable truth.
The Biden years must be evaluated on their own merits. The Harris Walz, Side must be held accountable for their own language and policy proposals. Of course it is perfectly fair to ask which policy proposals are likely to be better for the American people. The answer is clear to me, even if I don’t agree with everything that the Harris Walz people are proposing. Others may be less sure of that and will have to come to their own decision.