A "Yes, and..." political philosophy

By Gabriel Green

When it comes to politics, I find myself constantly playing the “other.” Liberals think I’m conservative. Conservatives think I’m liberal. Right-Wingers and Leftists actually tend to like me, but I think that’s because they aren’t used to someone taking them seriously.

My problem is that I’m both genuinely curious, and entirely unconstrained by the expectations of partisanship. I can look at an issue like Immigration or Education and see that everyone’s kind of correct.

Before going further though, I want to dispel the idea that I’m saying, “both sides are right.” In fact, I think both “sides,” as represented by the parties, are almost entirely wrong in what they propose as policies. But what I am saying is that ALL sides in the American political spectrum are usually right about something, and that the dominant parties ought to start taking in more suggestions from outside their established political bases.

Keeping it overly simple, take immigration as broken down along the current partisan lines.

If someone believes deeply in a “humanitarian principle” that demands open borders, they should still want strong border security. They just want that security to be focused on facilitating safe transit, not restricting who can/cannot come in. Or, if someone believes deeply in a “strong border,” they should also want that border to be free of humanitarian horrors. Because, when it is a hotbed of atrocities, not only do things like forced hysterectomies occur, but the border also becomes a target for external enemies and a reason for potential allies to second guess working with us.

Next, look at the ongoing battle in our own state over education.

Imagine that you support school choice policies because you believe a parent should have the final say in their child’s life, or because you think that competition breeds better results. Conversely, imagine that you support public schools because you believe that all children should have access to quality education, or because you think that community schools are a foundational cornerstone of American life.

Well, imagine if instead of pitting these ideas against each other, we said, “yes…and.” Imagine if we implemented more competition in the public system, empowered teachers AND parents with top-tier resources, and ensured that no child was restricted in the type of education they could pursue.

(This is actually incredibly easy to pay for, but I will explain that in far more detail elsewhere.)

Good policy is more nuanced than “Red vs Blue.” A first step to embracing that nuance is to say “yes, and” instead of constantly condemning the other team. It’s hard work — a lot harder than blindly rejecting everything they say — but it’s worth it.