There’s a lot of talk about how our society is in a crisis of division. We’re trapped in our personal social media silos. Families are being torn asunder by fake news. You’ve heard the spiel.
It is and isn’t true. These phenomena are real. They’re also not the whole story.
Research consistently shows that Americans are more closely aligned on a greater number of issues than it seems, especially when it comes to health care.
Caring Across Generations and the Times Up Foundation recently found:
“By an overwhelming margin, voters agree we need a comprehensive plan to provide services and supports for people responsible for family care and childcare (92% agree/8% disagree). Intensity of agreement is also incredibly high: a majority (55%) of voters strongly agree that a comprehensive plan is needed.
You can download the PDF report.
Populace found that:
“People receive high quality healthcare” is a top five personally-held national aspiration, both in aggregate and across key subgroups including presidential vote history, income, and race.”
People under estimated how important access to high quality healthcare for all was to society at large. They didn’t realize their neighbors largely agree with them.
You can download the PDF report, including raw data, from their website.
Before I joined The Caregiver Space, I did work for the Central Conference of American Rabbis. As an organization of Reform rabbis, they have long supported the creation of a comprehensive national health insurance program and a lot of the work I did for them was related to that.
I know these recent findings aren’t anomalous, because I’ve seen how the reports coming out have been consistent for the past decade.
Between the data and my habit of talking to strangers, it’s certainly no shock to me that the vast majority of Americans want everyone to have access to the care they need, be that medical care, ADL support, or support for family caregivers.
The same people who get riled up against supporting people who mooch off the system will empty their wallets to help a stranger. It’s all about the circumstances.
When we come into a conversation ready to prove a point, we miss the opportunity to discover that we already agree on most things.
There is no “other side” when they’re our family, classmates, coworkers, and neighbors.
We don’t need to agree on everything when we agree on the things that matter most.
In These Truths, Jill Lepore notes:
“a party system — a stable pair of parties — has characterized American politics since the ratification debates. In American history the change from one party system to another has nearly always been associated with a revolution in communications that allows the people to shake loose of the control of parties.”
Perhaps we’re on the cusp of one of those moments now, thanks to web 2.0.
Apologies for being so US-centric lately. I just swapped a map of my home state of New Jersey for a polar map of the world, so perhaps the change in office decor will help address my neglect of Australia and New Zealand.