How Do We Unite!?

Since the election of Joe Biden there has been a lot of talk about unity. President Biden correctly stated in his inaugural address that, “without unity there is no peace, only bitterness and fury.” However, statements such as this reek of the demagogic hot air that is often emitted from the mouths of politicians.

After all, there is little hope that Republicans or Democrats will ever agree with each other. Additionally, with both Congressional houses under Democratic control, it is unlikely that President Biden will check any of his more progressive urges.

How then do we lower the temperature and promote unity? The answer lies not in finding a supposed middle ground but rather in finding basic points of commonality that people from both sides of the aisle can agree upon and fight to defend.

One of these major points of commonality is our dedication to preserving the Supreme Court of the United States. English philosopher John Stuart Mill, who was an admirer of the Court, wrote that “there is nothing which more vitally imports the American people, than to guard with the most watchful solicitude against anything which has the remotest tendency to produce deterioration in the quality of this great institution.”

The Supreme Court preserves our governmental institutions, protects individual rights, and prevents any unlawful usurpations of authority. We should all take a lesson from the Democrats of 1937 who controlled both houses of Congress and the presidency. 

During this period the United States was dealing with a tragic depression and FDR was enacting numerous measures which he believed would save the economy. Frustrated that some of these were struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, Roosevelt introduced legislation that would pack the court with six more pro-government justices.

Despite having complete party control and immense personal popularity, his legislation was struck down by a bipartisan tidal wave that struck a huge blow to his political prestige.

This example illustrates that the presence of unity does not require any middle ground. In fact, the Republicans and Democrats were extremely divided over the direction of economic policy. However, unity was promoted by the fact that they harked back to common principles of government in our country.

A second point of commonality which we should all be able to agree upon is that what half the country considers to be a great moral evil should not be funded by taxpayers. Whatever President Biden’s beliefs about abortion, his decision to allow taxpayer funding to be administered to non-governmental organizations that provide abortions is competely reprehensible.

The decision is akin to forcing every single American to donate money to the NRA, despite their personal beliefs. Promoting unity could easily be accomplished by Biden’s refusal to provide taxpayer money to abortion providers.

A third and final point of commonality which could easily unite us would be a refusal to discriminate against people based upon race. This should not need to be said in the 21st century but unfortunately, those who claim to be progressives are actually regressives who seek to prevent us from moving forward.

In a recent statement about COVID-19 relief Joe Biden stated that “Our priority will be Black, Latino, Asian, and Native American owned small businesses, women-owned businesses.” The decision to administer aid based on race is divisive and immoral. 

All people have suffered from the pandemic and it is important to move forward together. Additionally, if Biden is worried about the effects of supposed “systemic racism” then why doesn’t he administer relief based on need. If minorities are truly worse off than white people then it will naturally affect them more.

The three simple suggestions that I have laid out should be easy to accept for any rational person. They merely require us to recognize certain points of commonality that we should adhere to in order to respect our fellow citizens and preserve our systems of government. Anyone who disagrees with this is the cause of our division, not the cure.