Substance please

Extremism is based on emotion, not reason. Conservative cries about patriotism, Christian values, socialism, job creators or our Founding Fathers sound very emotional. It is as if conservatives are so on edge that everyone else must agree with them or they will not be responsible for how they act out their anger and fears.

I think humans resort to emotional dead-ends like this when they can’t support what they want to believe with facts and reason. When you dwell only on emotions, you forfeit your capacity to reason and compromise, the foundation of democracy.

Conservatives need to back away from the edge of their own rhetoric and accept the value in what others have to say. It can be done.

I’m a progressive thinker, but I don’t want a government that is too large or that owns everything and controls people’s lives. I don’t want a weak military or high taxes that stifle business or prevent the growth of personal wealth. However, it’s the details of how we can come together to support better laws that should appear in our public discussions. We need substance, not dogma or political slogans.

This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 4:15 PM with the headline "Substance please."