Politics depends on blind spots

Everyone has blind spots. Especially when it comes to politics. In fact, I’d say politics is made up of blind spots knitted together with wishful thinking, expressed through legislation designed to violate people you don’t like.

Conservatives generally love the Constitution. They have a blind spot when it comes to unconstitutionally controlling people’s movement. They obsess over “immigration” and are willing to toss the Constitution aside for this issue. It’s almost a universal conservative trait, now, but this wasn’t always the case.

Liberals, progressives, or whatever they are calling themselves today, generally love bodily autonomy, at least concerning abortion. They don’t feel the same when someone makes the choice to defend their bodily autonomy with a firearm, or chooses to not have injections forced into them. It’s a blind spot that almost defines their ideology.

Politics depends on blind spots for its very existence. Without them, it would shrivel away in the burning white light of truth.

The thing with blind spots is that you can easily see them in others, or in other groups, but you can’t usually see them in yourself without help.

If someone points out what they think is a blind spot you have, you’d better take notice. They might be right and they might be wrong, but wouldn’t you rather figure it out?

Often, the answer is “no.”

I’ve spent my life trying to find and eliminate my own blind spots. People have been enthusiastic to point them out to me. It’s how I went from being a conservative, to being a constitutionalist, to being libertarian. Every blind spot I discovered led me toward a greater respect for liberty. It never swung the other direction -- or hasn’t yet.

I owe thanks to the people who helped me along the way. Many times they were right. Often, though, people imagine blind spots where they don’t exist, based on seeing their biases through their own blind spots.

If someone looks at the color you’ve called “blue” and tells you it’s orange, take another look, comparing it to examples of blue, orange, and other colors. If you still see it’s blue, you aren’t obligated to say you agree it’s orange just because someone tells you it is and calls it your blind spot. If you can logically explain yourself -- to shine light where someone else thinks you have a blind spot -- it may indicate the blind spot is theirs.

Farwell’s Kent McManigal champions liberty. Contact him at: 

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