Daniel Bannish, Psy.D., lives in Harpswell.

The “world’s greatest deliberative body” has morphed to a point beyond gridlock to become a “party-first” body that deliberates on the sins of the other. This statement should surprise no one in that the process of “country second” has been evident over several election cycles.

Partisanship is now the norm where disagreement over ideology or policy beliefs is equated by the other with an evil desire to destroy our country or way of life. There is no room for middle ground.

If you aren’t left wing then you must be right wing (or vice versa) and deserving of public vilification and preferably some form of humiliation. There is only one side to an argument and the other side is not only wrong but should not exist. This is the guarantee of partisanship. It is the virus that infects the country’s ability to think and problem solve.

Partisanship comes with a remarkable side effect. It guarantees that you are never responsible for the outcomes of your policies. Conveniently, it is always the other side that prevented you from passing legislation or addressing our most pressing problems. It has created the “world’s
least responsible deliberative body.”

The populace has experienced the helplessness engendered by this body and is ever more angry and extreme in its response. This has further galvanized the immobilization of Congress by the
election of even more polarizing figures. “Fight” has become the common mantra of both sides.

The guarantee and convenience of partisanship is most noticeable in those who profit most from it, i.e., those who subsidize the campaigns of those engaging in partisan behavior. The Congress, including those who campaigned as “fiscal conservatives,” was able to deliberate to pass a trillion-dollar tax break benefiting the most wealthy Americans; bail out a banking industry responsible for creating and profiting from a mortgage lending crisis; and agree to and fund an unnecessary war.

According to Robert Reich, a former secretary of labor, “The total wealth of America’s 660 billionaires has grown by … $1.1 trillion since the start of the pandemic, a 40% increase” — an amount that interestingly would fund much of the stimulus package that was ultimately passed.

Funding a partisan Congress appears to have promised a substantial return on investment. Both parties implore us to “fight” control from the other side presuming it represents an attack or a threat to self-preservation. Too often it is taken literally.

We are asked to be more emotionally committed to the cause for fear that the republic could not survive. Promoting a fight, however, can serve to damage relationships — the foundations for discourse. Instead we need to immunize ourselves against the desire to fight and invest in establishing diverse relationships that enhance problem solving and idea generation.

Time spent on social media relating only to like-minded people is not a method for solving problems or change. It supports the partisanship that has fueled the inaction that has so infuriated many Americans.

Likewise, Congress using the media and internet to promote distrust of the other party diminishes collegial discourse. It is time to avoid extreme positions and time to engage our neighbors, including those with whom we might disagree, in local problem-solving efforts that make a difference.

Our local elections are an important place to start. The convenience of partisanship is best identified in party line voting. We see this in Maine and nationally. To suggest that all members of one party and all the members of another party independently came to their own conclusions after truly deliberating is absurd.

Government shutdowns are indicative of the impotence associated with partisan thinking. The Congress needs to be resurrected as the “greatest deliberative body” and immediately address health care, Social Security, infrastructure, education, the deficit and immigration in a
fiscally prudent and equitable manner.

Every member is culpable. Partisanship can no longer be tolerated and should be seen for what it is — elected officials conveniently not doing their jobs while being totally accountable to their party and its funders.

Blaming the other side has become an easy and convenient default position that appears to benefit only the ruling class. It is time to demand reason over extremes of thinking.

As a populace we have been inducted to believe in the “illusion of alternatives” — that there are only two ways of solving problems. It is time for us to discuss broad-minded solutions with
each other and avoid one-sided beliefs that keep us apart.