Does partisan rhetoric promote or discourage productive debate on issues?

Question

ProudAmerican: I would rather have an honest answer any day. Opinions do not have to be flattering to be revelent for proper consideration.

Answer 1

It discourages productive debate. A wise person once said,

"If our action fails today to chasten this body and bring a halt to the crippling partisanship and animosity that has surrounded us, then we will have lost an opportunity to grow and learn from this solemn occasion. And that would be a tragedy."

We all need to agree to put this crippling partisan rhetoric behind us. What we need is civility and dignity to enter a period of constructive bipartisanship. We need to find areas where we can agree on and start there.

We have several crucial issues at stake in this country and we are just spinning our wheels because neither side is willing to budge and in most cases refuse to even listen to the other side.

The animosity between the two major political parties is so great that I don't see any change coming.

I wish I was wrong and I wish I could have given you a more positive response Bryan.

Answer 2

Any kind of spiteful, loud, over the top rhetoric does nothing for legitimate discourse and you are correct, it does in fact discourage people from openly and honestly debating issues. You can thank Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Al Franken, Barbara Streisand, etc. Both sides (Left and Right) have become so polarized, the middle just seems to be forgotten or worse, simply dismissed.

Answer 3

It discourages. After all, whatever you say, you will get the same tired, old cliches back. In fact there is no debate because people don't listen to what is being said, not considering the points that anyone should attempt to make.

Answer 4

When engaging in debate, we shouldn't reveal our prejudiced attitudes in our questions or our answers. Nevertheless, our human natures are built upon prejudices. We all have them, and we're all guilty of letting our passions get out of control. Some prejudices are good, some are bad, depending on whether or not they're based on hate, pride, anger, simple ignorance, etc., or-on the other hand-do we give precedence to facts, logic and basic common sense? Productive debate cannot be productive if we depend on the former; if we give in to our heated passions.

Answer 5

i think of this is a splash of the two, yet i think of it rather is principally trolls. i visit confess that frequently i'm getting caught by using one in all them and finally end up answering in form. That purely makes me experience as stupid as they sound. yet each and every now and then, I provide thumbs as much as people who i don't even believe purely because of the fact they keep their cool answering human beings like that. The call callers purely make me so mad that frequently i won't have the ability to react with any further intelligence than they used. thank you for the question. If there is rather every physique who would not understand what they're doing, in line with possibility the will ultimately "get it."

Answer 6

I like this question because it gets at the root of maladjusted human interaction.

My answer is NO! All the rhetoric you hear is just people saying, "I'm not listening to your side".

I think what America needs to unify our nation is a revival of sorts. We needs some reason to be "americans", one and all. Perhaps it will be islamfacism that unites us, or perhaps there will be a national tragedy, like Yellowstone Volcano destroying our whole industrial base.

Where am I going with this? Ummm....errr.....Hey what's happening with Tiger Woods anyway?

Answer 7

There's nothing wrong with debate. In fact it's good when done with a calm demeanor. Unfortunately in this space that is often not the case. It seems that one party is seething with anger and you can read it in their prose. There are some hot buttons on both sides and some folks use them rather than ask constructive questions.You already know who they are. Maybe we need to revise the abuse code to make this site more balanced. I say that knowing that it would apply to me as well.

See( JD) below.He's willing to say it is a problem on both sides.
Hats off to you (JD)

Answer 8

it naturally discourages productive debate, as opposed to focusing on resolution of issues, we tend to be a little more wrapped up in the differences of ideology.

Answer 9

It discourages it. I'm tired of hearing the same argument over and over again from different people. That gotta tell you something, right??? Are we all brainwashed? Does anyone think for themselves anymore?

Answer 10

I, for one, hate smear campaigns. I think it hurts campaign's over all. I want to hear why I should vote for a candidate not why I shouldn't vote for their opponent