Guest AuthorOne yard is only three feet, about the length of one step for an average-sized man. According to my 11.2 seconds of careful Internet research, we take about 7,500 of those a day, so no one of them is likely to be all that meaningful or memorable.
Now, think about that same yard in the context of a football game. Imagine, for instance, how much it meant in the1979 Sugar Bowl, when Alabama stopped Penn State just one yard away from a national championship.
(I’ll pause for a second while you ‘Bama fans get the “roll tide” out of your systems.)
The fact is, a yard is a yard, whether it’s on a football field or in your living room. Our perspective, on the other hand, can turn it into a mile or a millimeter depending on the circumstances.
That’s true of our political judgment as well.
I keep hearing that America is more polarized than ever, that the “sides” have never been farther apart on the issues, and of course the vintage whine that we are “going to hell in a hand basket.”
The recent government shutdown would seem to confirm that grim outlook, but I just don’t buy it.
From a policy standpoint, I believe we might be closer now than ever before. Excluding my Libertarian friends, a few hipster socialists and whatever’s left of the KKK, I expect most Americans would agree that:
— Some form of a free market is superior to a government-planned economy;
— There is a level of taxation and regulation necessary to improve our quality of life and prevent abuses;
— People should not face discrimination based on race, religion or gender.
That’s a big deal, folks, and it means we’ve come a long way in a short period of time. Less than a century ago, the United States had a thriving communist party. It wasn’t until the 1950s when corporations faced the first air pollution laws. And the Civil Rights Act was signed into law in ’64, just a year before I was born.
In the grand scheme of things, most Americans now occupy a fairly narrow sliver of the global political spectrum. Though they pretend otherwise, the officeholders in Tallahassee and Washington aren’t really debating deep, existential issues so much as they are having food fights over matters of convenience and cost.
So what’s with all the anger, name-calling and fiery rhetoric? Why can’t Congress do its most important job and pass a budget?
Mainly, it’s because politicians and (to a degree) the news media don’t want that to happen. Pols know that being effective can win you some friends, but it’s outrage that wins elections. The parties are counting on us to aim our anger at the other side.
For their part, the national media simply need enough drama and tension to keep the audience watching, reading or clicking.
In football terms, they all hope we’ll get emotionally involved and join the rabid masses cheering in the stands. They need us to believe that every play is fourth and goal, that every game is a championship, and that everyone must pick a side.
But that’s not the case at all. As Americans, we owe our loyalty to the sport, not the team. If we keep politics in its proper perspective, then enemies go back to being mere opponents, compromise leads to progress, and we start to realize that the distance between us isn’t nearly as far as we think.
In the ’79 Sugar Bowl, one yard was Penn State’s mile to gain and Alabama’s millimeter to defend. But to the rest of us, it was just one yard. All we remember now is a great game where both teams took the field with passion and left with respect.
I doubt that’s how we’ll remember this Congress.
