Blue islands

I’ll preface this post by repeating something I’ve said before: social security, Medicare, public schools, public libraries, immigration, reproductive choice, sensible gun control, racial tolerance and getting the state out of the marriage business are all bedrock conservative values that are also shared by liberals.

I grew up on a blue island. Oak Ridge TN was a highly educated and tolerant community when I grew up there, in a state that was pretty right-wing. Later, I moved to the People’s Republic of Chapel Hill, a blue island in the state of Jesse Helms. From there, I moved to St. Louis, a blue island in a state where the Confederate flag of treason is displayed proudly. After 40 years, we finally moved to Rhode Island, a tiny blue state, but not a blue island, since it is surrounded by blue states.

I don’t have a problem with political diversity. It’s just that we don’t really have it in America today. Because of our electoral system, there can only be two stable parties. Today, those are the conservative party (the Democrats) and the right-wing Trump cult party (the Republicans). There is no significant liberal party in America. Those who claim to want to see a “fair and balanced” political discourse should be pushing for a new party that represents voices and policies on the left for a change. Such parties exist and thrive in parliamentary systems, where diversity is possible.

Meanwhile, those of us who valorize tolerance and political comity are stuck looking for blue islands.