Just as we feel angry at the uneven sidewalk that “causes” us to trip, we humans almost instinctively want to blame misfortune on some factor other than ourselves, since we don’t want to feel shame about making a poor decision.
Toddlers deny eating a cookie with chocolate all over their faces. Adolescents blame their teacher when they fail a class, or their parents when they are caught sneaking out of the house. Adults claim they wouldn’t have cheated if their spouse was more affectionate. We substitute blame for the painful process of taking responsibility for our choices, which limits how much we can learn when those choices lead to bad outcomes.
Our current political landscape illustrates this aspect of human nature, almost comically at times. Donald Trump seems to blame Joe Biden, and lately, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, for anything that isn’t working well in the country, or even in the world. To be fair, those on the left do their share of finger-pointing as well, but Trump has really perfected the blame game. He even blames the messenger, as we see in his tendency to attack and disparage reporters who dare to remind him of unkept promises or contradictions in his rhetoric.
This refusal to accept appropriate levels of responsibility leaves us stuck in shouting matches between extremists who don’t seem interested in solutions. Sadly, as we dig deeper into the realities of why things are the way they are, finding solutions will require greater awareness of the complexity of problems that don’t fall neatly into the “good vs. evil” scenario.
Two immediate examples are the recent tragic flooding along the Guadalupe River and the nightmarish immigration enforcement that is taking place throughout the country. Neither situation will yield to a simple, straightforward solution, and both risk getting bogged down in our need to blame rather than understand.
Rep. Wes Virdell, our representative in the Texas Legislature, was asked about his vote against HB13 this spring, which passed the House but was defeated in the Senate. Inspired by the wildfire disasters in the Texas Panhandle, the bill proposed the creation of a statewide emergency communications council and planning for grants to counties to install warning systems. Virdell acknowledged that, having seen the devastation of the flood and the failure of existing warning systems, he would probably vote in favor of the bill now.
The finger-pointers jumped on that as an admission of Republican guilt in the cause of the floods, though in my opinion Virdell should be cheered for admitting his change of heart. But what’s important to me is that it’s not that simple. There were flaws in HB13 that gave pause to those who agreed with the concept but found the plan for execution lacking. Virdell was oversimplifying the process required to solve problems as big as disaster warning systems.
What should have happened is that supporters and critics of the bill continued working together on the problematic aspects of the bill. Disaster response is not, or should not be, a partisan issue. But we want answers and sound bites that end up creating heat but no light.
Similarly, the challenge of reforming our ineffective immigration system has been all but discarded in favor of dramatic rhetoric and extreme responses that ignore the fact that immigrants are part of the backbone of our economy and our way of life.
In early 2024, a bipartisan plan for comprehensive immigration reform passed the Senate twice before Republicans caved to pressure from then-candidate Trump, who wanted to keep immigration problems alive so he could run for office on them. Blaming Biden for “open borders” and blaming immigrants for causing violent crime waves and economic stresses was essential to Trump’s strategy of creating an enemy that he promised to vanquish.
As Americans realize that extreme and unconstitutional methods are being used to target not just criminals but even legal immigrants who have been living here peacefully and productively for many years, pressure is mounting for Congress to take responsibility for immigration reform rather than continuing to blame innocent people in order to realize the fever dreams of Trump and his extremist supporters.
Only we, the people, can demand that our legislators demonstrate the maturity and the respect for their constituents that is needed for bipartisan cooperation to get to work on solving these complex and life-threatening problems.
In a moving editorial in the aftermath of the July 4th floods, the San Antonio Express-News described the process required for all of us, but especially our lawmakers, to face the realities that surround us in these uncertain times: “It is human nature, when mired in trauma or grief, to seek the fast lane back to normalcy, back to what is familiar and predictable. But a disaster demands the opposite of us: We must sit with the discomfort of identifying failures. We must be open-minded about new approaches that could save lives. We must be willing to embrace change – not retreat to the same old practices that leave us just as vulnerable as before. Raising these questions is not politicizing a tragedy. Natural disasters are not a partisan issue.”
I would suggest that no issue facing our country is better handled by politicizing it. We must tell our representatives to sit down, grow up, and get to work. And if they don’t, we should elect new representatives who will make bipartisan problem-solving more important than politics.
Susan Hull is a retired clinical psychologist, a horse trainer, and an Independent voter. Her dream is to be asked to speak to the Bandera Republican Women’s Club about bipartisan approaches to problem-solving.
.png)
