Political Emotionalism In America

Religious practice in America is regularly scrutinized by many people who don't have any allegiance to the religion they analyze and even by some within a given religion.  Occasionally, the average person might even hold to a true belief about the nature of a religion, even if they have never personally delved into the epistemology of religion through rationalistic contemplation.  Although it is still rare to find someone who avoids all misconceptions and assumptions for or against a particular religion, there are at least many partial attempts to understand theological concepts and weigh them.  American politics, however, is even more of an overt emotionalistic circus.

Politics is almost never openly dissected with the same alleged care that so many pretend they show in assessing different religions or the concept of theology as a whole, not that Christianity, Islam, or any other explicitly theological system is normally analyzed rationally!  The norm is emotionalistic attachment to one of two main parties that both stand on nothing but a vacuum of philosophical validity.  Assumptions, misrepresentations, hypocrisy on the level of both ideas and actions, and appeals to emotion are common.  America is full of people who are apathetic about far more foundational and vital philosophical matters, yet it is full of individuals who rabidly profess loyalty to invalid political ideologies.

Epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics frame every aspect of politics, but the majority of voters seem to have little to no experience with independent reflection about the philosophies behind various political ideas.  This incompetence and lack of familiarity with even basic concepts accessible to all people through pure reason inevitably results in emotionalism or egoism, which can so easily be found in American politics.  Usually eager to exaggerate the flaws of the other party, conservative and liberal voters overlook their own glaring assumptions in favor of emotion-fueled rejection of subjectively discomforting ideas.

Of course, conservatism and liberalism are asinine whether or not their supporters were often guilty of inconsistencies and blindness.  Tradition and novelty have no bearing on philosophical truth and thus no political system rooted in either could be valid.  It is not as if the veracity or consistency of conservatism or liberalism hinges on the actions of their followers.  The ideas stand or fall based on whether they conform to logical and moral reality, the only things that could ever justify any political system in the first place.  Emotional comfort, a sense of belonging, and mere preference are what fools look for in political ideologies.

Rationalism is needed at all times and in all facets of life, and politics, especially since it directly or indirectly impacts how people live and is inherently constructed on philosophical concepts, can have no exemption.  The emphasis on political ideas over the more important metaphysical and epistemological ideas they are immersed in and the disease of political assumptions are just symptoms of the deeply irrationalistic bent of the American people.  Apart from rationalism, the United States, like every other country in the world, remains adrift in ignorance and stupidity.

Logic, people.  It is very fucking helpful.