DIVISIVENESS

THE MOST ABUSED WORD IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

We hear the word “divisive” constantly in American politics.

Criticize a politician? Divisive.

Challenge your own political party? Divisive.

Demand accountability? Divisive.

Refuse to stay silent? Somehow, that’s divisive too.

But maybe we’ve completely screwed up what the word actually means.

On this episode, Bill Cancel takes on one of the most overused political accusations in America and asks a simple question:

WHEN DID DISAGREEMENT BECOME DIVISIVENESS?

We’ll discuss why disagreeing with someone does not make them your enemy, and why criticism—even uncomfortable criticism—is an essential part of democracy.

We’ll examine accountability and the growing tendency to attack the person exposing a problem instead of dealing with the problem itself.

We’ll ask whether calls for “unity” sometimes really mean: Stop criticizing us. Stop questioning us. Stop talking about it.

And we’ll tackle one of the most important distinctions in politics:

COMPROMISE VS. CAPITULATION.

Compromise means both sides give something up.

Capitulation means one side is expected to surrender its principles—and then gets accused of being “divisive” when it refuses.

America doesn’t need 340 million people who agree with each other.

It needs Americans who can disagree, criticize, debate, demand accountability—and still recognize one another as Americans.

Maybe disagreement isn’t what’s dividing us.

Maybe we’ve forgotten how to disagree without becoming divided.

DIVISIVENESS

Hosted by Bill Cancel
The Boricua BC2 Network
Politics Without the Noise