Mutual Exclusivity is Ruining America

Stop me if you have heard any of this before: If you support #BlackLivesMatter, you must be anti-law enforcement. If you support any conservative policies, you cannot support other liberal policies. If you love America, you cannot be a soccer fan.

People believe that opposing viewpoints should not exist in the same sphere. Moreover, many believe that people who hold those opposing viewpoints should not be allowed to state them because they are either insensitive or overly politically correct. This concept is a problem.

Opposing viewpoints are a good thing for this country. They are what help to keep our democracy functioning. If we all had the same points of view, any system of government would be pointless because we would all agree on everything. Life would be boring.

The latest example of this problem is all over your Facebook feed. “As Obama Touts Refugee Resettlement, Many Veterans Go Homeless.” Of course veteran homelessness is a problem. Of course we should be doing everything that we can to make sure that those who served our country have their basic human needs met. But that does not mean that we cannot also help refugees who are fleeing the same problems that we are afraid to face. Those two things do not need to be exclusive of each other.

Another topic of discussion that often comes up is that we must have all guns or no guns. Every time there is a school shooting — which is almost weekly lately — the first thing that comes up is not mourning or sorrow for the victims and their families. The first thing that people bring up is that the shooting happened because guns are too readily available. The next order of business is to ridicule those who say this because “criminals will get their hands on guns anyway. We should not penalize those who want to obey the law because of the actions of those who will not obey it regardless.” Lost in all of this is the fact that real human lives have been lost and that real suffering is still happening.

The solution to every problem is not right in the middle. However, it is not generally on the far right or far left. Compromise is a better solution than obstinate refusal to negotiate.

Or we could all just stay firm and resolute in our hatred for each other and watch our country as we know it dissolve and disappear.

— Tristan Boyce is a senior hoping that the job market will be kind to him in the coming months. He is asking you to do the right thing. Also, follow him on Twitter @Tristan_Boyce1.