It’s been frustrating watching much of the world infantilize and attempt to appease Iran and her proxies (Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, and their ilk) for most of this past year in an attempt to score political points at the expense of Israelis and the Jewish diaspora.
Although I am optimistic Israel will not cede control of the border between Gaza and Egypt, and will continue striking back against Hezbollah in the North (like we saw this morning), I’m also concerned Bibi might finally crack under the immense political pressure he’s facing both at home and abroad.
Without a decisive Israeli victory over Hamas, future rounds of violence are inevitable. This serves neither Israelis or Palestinians. The hard won gains achieved by the IDF to reestablish deterrence and defensible borders should not be undermined to serve anyone’s political agenda against the long term interests of the West. Unfortunately, we live in a world devoid of reason where every issue must be viewed through the lens of party over principal.
Both parties have demonized each other to the point where any muddying of moral clarity is justified to win an election. And yet we wonder why people have lost their ability to govern competently… And why our citizens have lost faith in our institutions… And why we’re angrier and lonelier then previous generations.
We’ve become so busy fighting each other about the twenty percent of issues we disagree on that we’ve lost our will to defend ourselves against nations who disagree with eighty percent of our values and way of life.
This got me thinking about politics more generally. How allegiances to political parties have poisoned peoples ability to think critically to our communal detriment.
The following essay is an exploration of my attempts to figure out where I stand politically and if independents can help bridge the partisan chasm dividing most Western nations.
Here we go…
If you are a frequent reader of Maccabee Nation, you may be trying to put your finger on my political orientation. When you figure it out, please let me know.
I’ve never felt alignment with either party. I feel alienated by aspects of both major parties (as I am sure many Americans do) which is why I understand peoples inclination to vote for personalities instead of policies. Here’s the thing though, personalities don’t mean much. Leaders eventually die and fade away, but their policies linger around decades, sometimes even centuries after.
I’ve voted for both Democrats and Republicans in my life. I’ve never voted for Trump, but I haven’t ruled it out this year. Like most Americans, I was hoping we’d see Democrats run a real speed primary after Biden dropped out, but it seems our overlords picked for us instead.
So here we are at a crossroads.
Even compared to past years of political homelessness, where I at least felt a twinge of preference for where to set up my tent, this one feels tough. Whether it’s compromising on reproductive rights or accepting a parties mainstream antisemitism (I’ll let you decide for yourselves which party is which), voting in America for Jews these days has become a real tough business.
With Kennedy out of the race now, I am curious how that’s impacting our communities view of the election. Although he endorsed Trump, I think Kennedy supporters are ideologically diverse, and many may end up not voting at all. I also anticipate their apathy toward both remaining candidates will dampen any potential benefits to Trump. With a few months to go until the election, a long time in politics, it still seems like either candidate has a shot and it’ll be a close election.
For total transparency, according to this quick quiz I took, I’m a libertarian. That smells about right. I bend right on most economic issues and think government should mostly leave people alone. I’d like to see most federal powers go back to the states, with a few notable exceptions like defense and big infrastructure projects.
Now it seems we’re faced with two basically populist candidates on both sides who are both moving their parties to the left of where they have been historically.
Both candidates are jockeying to buy as many votes as possible with subsidies and in some cases advocating for price controls (that won’t work). It doesn’t seem either party can even muster the courage to pretend to care about ballooning budget deficits that future generations will need to pay. This is a big issue for me, and probably many others, and it’s a shame that all indications intimate it’ll continue to be ignored.
Even before Israel, an issue I care deeply about, became a partisan topic in America, I had already felt neither party truly represented me.
I doubt I’m the only one, but it feels like that most days.
As loud and annoying as the pro-Hamas and anti-West terror supporters are, when you look at what American’s really care about, foreign policy is low on the totem pole. It makes you wonder why the Left has put so much effort into coddling these violent protestors, who clearly use the conflict in the Middle East to express their hate for America and the West more broadly. Besides being disconcerting, it just seems like a bad political strategy for Democrats that alienates the more moderate and right leaning members of their party.
I hope the future debates between Trump and Harris focus on the economy, healthcare, and immigration, and other issues Americans care about (as shown below) and not the endless personality and culture wars that are burning us all out.
I’ve ultimately come to the conclusion that being an independent is actually a superpower.
Being politically homeless helps me think critically about issues instead of having knee jerk reactions to defend politicians in my tribe. It’s unfortunate more people can’t break away from their partisan prisons to see how much common ground on issues there actually is. We certainly have more in common as Americans then not, and yet were conditioned to hate each other. Who is it serving?
Although I feel like it’s irresponsible not to vote, I’m finding it hard this year to hold my nose and pick either candidate.
Where are you at right now on the election Maccabee Nation?
Please leave a vote and a comment about what issue is most important to you and why you picked that candidate. It could influence my opinion, and I live in a swing state😉
Sources:
A much for fair headline regarding Israel attacking Hezbollah https://www.wlrn.org/npr-breaking-news/2024-08-25/israel-and-hezbollah-exchange-heavy-fire-raising-fears-of-a-regional-war
Angrier and lonelier https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/06/26/735757156/poll-americans-say-were-angrier-than-a-generation-ago
People vote for personalities, not policies. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9831368/
A Love Letter to My Politically Homeless American Tribe