The Deep Divide: The Lost Era of Merit and Rise of Toxic Politics of Partisan Rejection

Image Credit, Andrew Martin

The deep divine long gone are those days when members of Congress or the Canadian House of Commons—whether Republican or Democrat, Liberal or Conservative—would set aside their partisan loyalties for the sake of good policy. The era where the merit of a proposal determined its fate, rather than the party that proposed it, has faded into a distant memory. Today, the default response is to tear down each other’s ideas, not out of thoughtful critique but out of sheer opposition, a reflexive rejection that reeks of pettiness and immaturity.

This corrosive behavior has cemented a narrative that these elected officials are little more than overpaid squabblers, siphoning taxpayer money while indulging in a relentless and tiresome game of one-upmanship. No party holds a monopoly on good ideas, yet the ideological divide that now permeates society, fueled in no small part by the mainstream media at the behest of political parties, has convinced citizens otherwise. The harmful belief that any idea not birthed by the party one supports is inherently bad has poisoned the well of governance.

This toxic mindset has led to the premature death of countless great ideas, solutions, and initiatives—proposals that have been killed before they ever had a chance to prove their worth. This is the reality we now face. It’s evident in the grueling and often ridiculous confirmation battles for judges and other critical political appointments. These moments, which should be focused on merit and qualifications, have instead become arenas for scoring cheap political points and securing a few extra minutes of fame.

The media, in this grand charade, plays its part all too well. Funded by those who benefit from the status quo, the media outlets have become willing participants in this circus, trading integrity for cash and further feeding the great divide. Cash is king, and it drives the very machine that keeps us locked in this cycle of division and distrust.

This is the unfortunate state we find ourselves in—a political landscape where meaningful progress is sacrificed at the altar of partisanship and profit. And as long as the cycle continues, the days of true bipartisan cooperation, where ideas were judged by their merit rather than their origin, will remain a distant and unreachable ideal.