I attended the speaker Matthew Dowd today and had a good listen to all that he said.
Most notably was his discussion on confirmation bias, which is how individuals seek out confirmation of self through others. This happens in both big and small things, especially in campaigns and in places like the White House.
This was addressed to point out the deep divide within our country regarding our political ideologies and how through this concept, one's opinion becomes a fact because it is based in other peoples truths. This is how we become divided.
Mr. Dowd then went on to discuss how this translates to our understandings and conceptions of reality in politics. That Barak Obama in actuality didn't do anything really to win the election, but that the nature of the country was what really propelled him to win. That our confirmation bias is what swayed us in that particular direction and is still how we operate today. WE have this myth that he did it on his own, when the reality of the situation is much different.
I took issue with many of Mr dowd's comments because I didn't feel like he took into consideration the role of leadership of which he was so deeply entrenched. Here at the Clinton School and even beyond that to my whole history of leadership development, I've always been told that Leadership comes with great responsibility. While I can agree that this confirmation bias is a great theory and is applicable to most, if not all human beings, if we take a step back and think of the bigger picture we have to then think about cause and effect.
While I agree that many of the American people are in particular ideologies which navigate them into polarized places, I often wonder how those opinions were actually formed. To me, these opinions stem from those in power who have utilized fear and distortion to propagate their own perspective. This to me is the greatest sin committed by those in power in the last 8 years because they used that power not for the greater good, but for sorted interests. My classmate, Dewi, asked a pointed question regarding the treatment of Muslims in the world after 9/11 and how that fear was then used to win the 2004 election. I related very much to that opinion because as a gay man, I too felt like a political football during that same period. And to me, at that time, it wasn't about what the people wanted, but it was exploiting the bias' that people may or may not have had on a micro level to get what the Bush administration wanted.
We can do the same things with statistics. We can look at the fact that 40% of the people don't like Obama, or we can look at it as if 60% of the people do like Obama. It matters how you spin it, and the people at the top like Matthew Dowd knew exactly what they were doing.
So when responding to the final question, "what are the ways that leaders can take responsibility for the polarization of our country and bring people together?", Mr Dowd responded that we can only control ourselves, I was just turned off by the ammount of politicking going on in that comment.
If the only blame for our polarization in this country is placed vaguely on "The people" without acknowledging the fact that "The people" were directed by our leaders in various ways, on both ends of the political spectrum, then we will never get to a solution to our greater issue. Without acknowledging ones personal responsibility by making decisions surrounding the direction of our country, no one will move forward. Things were done to insight fear. Things were done to divide and disproportionally get votes. And to try to dilute the responsibility of leadership on the people as if "The people's" perceptions and opinions were where responsibility lay, despite being manipulated and contorted into what they supposedly should think.
At the end of the day, I just believe that a leader is represented by people like Obama, who bring people together. People who give faith and trust to The people to make appropriate decisions with real and actual facts. I also believe that a leader takes responsibility for his or her actions whenever they are wrong.
The ultimate test of a leader is not during the times of peace and harmony, but during our times of great stress. In order to move forward, we have to take responsibility, and acknowledge what we've done and where we need to go.
Thank you Mr Dowd for coming to our school today and I appreciate your willingness to share your opinion with us. I respectfully disagree on several points, but overall believe you to be quite the jovial person. Thanks.
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