Bridging the gap between "Left"  and  "Right"

The Power of Social Principles


I. Why is our US Government Plagued by Gridlock?

The political gridlock in Washington is rendering our country more and more ungovernable and leading to a dangerous polarization of political forces. To overcome it, we will need to look at the driving forces behind the tug-of-war inherent in our two-party system. For underlying this tug of war of competing political interests lies a conflict which has not yet been fully appreciated: the conflict between two of the great ideals upon which our nation was founded, ideals that we hold to be self-evident, that we feel very strongly about and are willing to fight for: Freedom and Equality.

Freedom and Equality need not conflict. Freedom of speech is not at all incompatible with Equality before the law. But there are areas where we disagree, often quite passionately, about which of these ideals should apply. And this confusion about where these ideals apply is one of the main sources of the polarization we are experiencing in our country today.

As principles, Freedom and Equality are in some ways polar opposites. Freedom unleashes potential – whether creative or destructive, self-centered or selfless, good or bad. This potential radiates out into the world and transforms it. Freedom of thought has no apparent immediate effect upon the surrounding world. Freedom of speech or of the press has more; and the Freedom to drive a car, to develop an industry or to deploy a powerful weapon can have tremendous material impact. The principle of Equality, on the other hand, is often employed as a counterforce to limit Freedom when it impinges on what we feel to be the rights of others. Thus democratic elections were instituted to limit the power of government. Equality before the law, enhanced by civil rights, protects the weak from the overbearing power of the strong. In sum: Freedom is necessary for the unfolding of creative human capacities and is essential to a flourishing cultural life, while Equality is necessary in communal life and has its rightful place in legal and governmental affairs.

How do the ideals of Freedom and Equality play themselves out in our current political polarization?

Republicans feel strongly about Freedom: they want to reduce government to a minimum so that they can exercise their Freedom to the fullest possible extent, unimpeded by government regulation. They abhor socialism because they see it as the abdication of their personal Freedom to a “nanny state.” They especially dislike governmental control of areas such as education, health care, and business. Republicans identify with rugged individualism and value entrepreneurial Freedom, initiative, ingenuity, independence, and hard work.

Democrats, on the other hand, tend to be deeply committed to the ideal of Equality. They are adamant about achieving equal rights for all human beings, regardless of their differences. Democrats want to make sure that justice prevails and the dignity and welfare of the weak and vulnerable are protected. They stand up for workers’ rights, universal access to education and health care, and the protection of the environment. They therefore call for government regulation. They feel strongly that all children should have the same chances in life and should therefore receive the same – or at least an equivalent – education. For similar reasons, most Democrats would prefer a single-payer, universal health care system administered by the government.

There can be no disagreement that Freedom must prevail in such areas as art, science, religion, and journalism. Nor is there any disagreement about the importance of civil rights, Equality before the law, and a just legal system. So there are actually broad areas where Democrats and Republicans agree. There are, however, areas where the principles of Freedom and Equality seem to collide, and it is especially in these areas where the two parties play on the hopes and fears of their constituents to gain political power. There is nothing like confusion and demagoguery to generate emotional polarization, and nothing like clarity and certainty to dispel it.

Let us take a closer look at education. Today, perhaps more than ever, it is recognized that the future of society depends on the quality of education. Yet there is little agreement on how education should be conducted. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that both ideals – Freedom and Equality – play strongly into the field of education. Freedom is essential to education in at least two ways:

In a free society, all parents should have the Freedom to choose the type of education they want for their children. In a post-communist, post national-socialist – i.e., post-totalitarian – era it is simply no longer tenable to argue that the government should determine the education children receive. Government-run education runs counter to the principle that the people should determine their government and not vice versa. That the content and methods of education should be determined by any kind of external authority is incompatible with the feelings of emancipated, freedom-loving modern human beings. Just as there should be Freedom of speech, Freedom to attend a church, to espouse a philosophy, or to read particular books, thus parents should have a choice as to how their children are educated.

The second aspect of education where Freedom should prevail as a matter of course is in teaching. In free democratic societies government officials do not determine the work of artists, pastors, scientists and journalists, nor should they determine what or how teachers teach. Just as artists need to be free to develop their work, so should teachers be free to form their own curriculum, to set their own standards, and to choose their teaching methods. State mandated curricula and teaching methods degrade the teaching profession and undermine the creativity and initiative of teachers. We do not allow bureaucrats to run our businesses, nor should we allow them to run our schools. In the past, public education, overseen by locally elected school boards, contributed greatly to our society. Today, however, public education is increasingly determined by national and even international standards – by centralized government authority, imposed from above and enforced through testing – a system that stifles creativity and initiative. The ones who suffer the most under this system are the children and teachers who are unable to unfold their creative potential.

Just as our founding fathers insisted that there be a separation of church and state, thus we today need to insist that there be a separation of education and state.

On the other hand, as most Democrats will attest, the ideal of Equality also has its place in education: every child has a right to an education, and when it comes to rights, all people are, or should be, equal. Education, like safety, food, shelter, or health care, is something all human beings need in order to live a dignified existence. No one should be deprived of a good education because they are unable to afford it or because of their race or gender. It is therefore the duty of society to ensure that all children – and young people – have equal access to education. Does the principle that each young person has equal educational rights necessarily conflict with the Freedoms outlined above – the Freedom of parents to choose their child’s school or of young people to choose a course of study at a college or university? Does the equal right to an education mean that all education must be equal: that all teachers are constrained to teach the same curriculum?

Education is expensive, and in order to guarantee Freedom of choice (i.e., equal opportunity), sufficient funding for education would have to be provided for parents with children or young people who would otherwise not be able to afford it. This could be in the form of an education voucher that would go to the school of their choice. Teachers, however, would be free to work with like-minded colleagues in independent schools where they could unfold their initiative and creativity.

Thus both the ideal of Freedom and the ideal of Equality could be upheld with regard to education. Of course innumerable details would have to be worked out to realize what has just been described in bold strokes. But unless we begin to think about, and implement, the fundamental principles at work in our society we will remain mired in gridlock because we have failed to bring conscious discernment to the problems that confront us. Freedom and Equality are powerful ideals and unleash powerful emotional forces in our society. And if we fail to become fully conscious of how these ideals apply in areas such as education, these forces will continue to wreak havoc.

If the principle of Freedom were realized as indicated above, Republicans would be happy because education would be liberated from governmental control. And Democrats would also be happy because, for the first time in the history of our country, all children would have an equal right and equal opportunity to enjoy a good education. Poor children would no longer be forced to attend mediocre public schools while rich children attend the best private schools.

The situation is similar when it comes to health care. For some – typically Republicans – Freedom is paramount: the Freedom of patients to choose their doctors and therapies, and the Freedom of doctors to practice their profession without governmental interference. For others – typically Democrats – equal access to health care is of primary concern. As with education, the important thing is to recognize the fundamental validity of both demands and then to act accordingly. 

 Just as when designing a car, one must work with the laws of mechanics, thus in designing an educational system or a health care system, one must work with the ideal principles inherent in these systems. And just as ignoring the laws of mechanics will lead to dysfunctional cars and dangerous accidents, so will ignoring fundamental principles of social life lead to human strife, suffering and political gridlock. 

(Author of this essay not known, reprinted without permission)