The Torch's take:
Political vilification of our peers
Issue date: 11/20/08 Section: Columns
So, the election is finally over. Some of us are bitter, some of us are ecstatic, and some of us are just happy not to be talking about it as much anymore.
Through the election, you may have noticed yourself or others shutting down the ideas of your peers simply due to Republican or Democratic ideology.
In the aftermath of the election, you may find yourself as Democrats feeling as though you have prospered over the Republicans, and as Republicans, feeling defeated by the Democrats. However, now is the time to step back and slowly realize how society has transformed two political parties into two opposing, irreconcilable groups.
In expressing his concerns over this same issue, newly elected president Barack Obama stated, "What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose, and that's what we have to restore."
These days, instead of believing that in our affiliation with one of the two political parties, we have the joint goal of governing our country, we have come to view the other political party as being our enemy.
Marsha Vanderford, a professor at the University of South Florida with a Ph.D. in Speech Communication, proposed the concept of vilification, or the method through which members of one group discredit their perceived enemies by personifying them as corrupt, unjust, or evil.
Democrats and Republicans are no longer seen as decent groups of people with a simple difference of opinion concerning varying political issues; rather, both groups have come to be viewed by the other as a potentially powerful adversary who, when given the chance, will bring to the surface and enact their previously hidden ulterior motives.
This may sound radical, but according to Vanderford, these are the beliefs that groups come to hold concerning their supposed foe.
Furthermore, she goes on to state that there is a correlation between alienation and motivation, in that a proven way to get individuals motivated to act for their specific cause is to alienate members of the apparent rival cause.
Through the election, you may have noticed yourself or others shutting down the ideas of your peers simply due to Republican or Democratic ideology.
In the aftermath of the election, you may find yourself as Democrats feeling as though you have prospered over the Republicans, and as Republicans, feeling defeated by the Democrats. However, now is the time to step back and slowly realize how society has transformed two political parties into two opposing, irreconcilable groups.
In expressing his concerns over this same issue, newly elected president Barack Obama stated, "What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose, and that's what we have to restore."
These days, instead of believing that in our affiliation with one of the two political parties, we have the joint goal of governing our country, we have come to view the other political party as being our enemy.
Marsha Vanderford, a professor at the University of South Florida with a Ph.D. in Speech Communication, proposed the concept of vilification, or the method through which members of one group discredit their perceived enemies by personifying them as corrupt, unjust, or evil.
Democrats and Republicans are no longer seen as decent groups of people with a simple difference of opinion concerning varying political issues; rather, both groups have come to be viewed by the other as a potentially powerful adversary who, when given the chance, will bring to the surface and enact their previously hidden ulterior motives.
This may sound radical, but according to Vanderford, these are the beliefs that groups come to hold concerning their supposed foe.
Furthermore, she goes on to state that there is a correlation between alienation and motivation, in that a proven way to get individuals motivated to act for their specific cause is to alienate members of the apparent rival cause.
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