A Question of Factionalism

With everything going on in politics these days, I often hear complaints about factionalism. First and foremost, I don't consider it, ipso facto, to be a negative thing. Our government was designed to be inefficient to as not to trample on the on the rights of the minority. Federalist 10 makes it amply clear that an elected majority can trample on rights (tyranny of the majority) just as easily as any monarch. Inefficiency keeps government from accruing too much power since government itself is an inherent contradiction to freedom. Be that as it may, I am personally chagrinned by the personal nature of many of these attacks. Both sides are guilty of it. It's pointless to say who's more at fault or who started it. That's a child's folly.

Basically, it comes down to this. How do you feel about government? Do you feel like it is a doting parent or a necessary evil? Do you feel that more of it is better or less of it is more? Every singe policy dispute that we get caught up in ran be distilled into one of these two points of view. There is nothing else. Given that, it is very possible for two people to end up on opposing sides of the issue and have good reasons for why they believe what they do. It has been my experience that those of the socialist bent often have less of a coherent line reasoning for their beliefs. Feeling strongly about something is not a philosophical position. It is no place to make policy decisions from.

I have lots of friends who think differently from me. I don't doubt that they love our Country as much as I do. I don't doubt that they think they are acting in the best interests of our Country. I am just as sure that they are wrong. I will argue and debate and try to persuade them the best I can. I will, however, never question their character or motivations. People who insist that everybody think like they do are just insecure about their positions and are scared of legitimate challenge.

Honest disagreement is a positive thing. Ad hominem attacks are for children and idiots.