We Are Not Enemies

-by Ben Braver

My entire life has been lived under “unprecedented times”: 9/11, 2008, Climate Change, School Shootings, Covid, January 6th, Gazan Massacre… yesterday.

We are attacked on all sides at all times by media messages telling us: those on the other side are evil, not just intellectually wrong but morally bad. You must take drastic action before it is too late.

I hear this on the news, in my car, throughout youtube, facebook, instagram— angry politics has consumed our lives pushing one unerring message: You must be afraid. You must hate the other side. Their victory means the end.

And when you change the channel you’ll hear the same thing, just with the politicians swapped, because this narrative works on everyone.

Throughout my time working in politics I’ve met innumerable people whose entire job is just to divide and confuse the public. To separate us into diametrically opposed factions always fighting over something new and shiny and disturbing. They have led us to believe that we are at war with an Enemy for the soul of Our America.

We hear the rhetoric ratcheting up and up, and we see the state of our politics getting worse and worse. And at some point, we ask ourselves— ”Why am I being force-fed all of this hatred? Why is fear being stuffed down my throat? What’s behind this coincidence that every single election is the most important in history, more than the last?”

To find out we just have to ask: Who benefits when Americans are scared? Who benefits when neighbor is set against neighbor, when families are torn apart? Who benefits when we can’t trust our community, and the world becomes too stressful to deal with?

The Media

When we’re afraid of some big issue, we become desperate for information, even scraps of information that might help us feel safe. Turning to media, (news, social, or fictional) is a natural instinct. Whether high on victory, or full rage, we seek company; wanting to celebrate with friends and jeer at the other side.

The problem is, our news is designed to entertain, not inform. CNN is owned by HBO, NBC is better known for sitcoms, and Fox has always been a Mockumentary channel. They have perfected the ability to interest us in anything thanks to flashy graphics and fear based narratives; so we fall into their spell, associate with their version of reality, and end up separated from our fellow citizens. Stranded in an echo chamber, with only ads making their way in. 

Corporate media is really just a by-product of advertising space. They sell our attention to their clients. It makes no difference what goes on the screen, just that it keeps our eyes locked. So all day, every day, year after year, election after election, they broadcast what sells— fear and anger.

News companies have trained us to outsource our thinking, to let them do the news collection, analysis, and judgment for us. They give us what we know, teaching what we believe, what we value, and who is trying to take that away. They teach you what your America is, and why you must defeat the enemy for it.

And the best way to defeat them will shock you, as long as you stick around after the ads.

I’m tired of it. I’m tired of the anger and fear, of always feeling the tension ratcheted up as high as it will go until— they find a new public enemy #1 and go further. We need to come back to reality, to real reality. Americans disagree on how make our country better, but rarely on whether to make it better. 

We still mostly want the same things: freedom, safety, and prosperity. We are convinced that there is so much vitriol boiling in everyone else, but when we take a breath, touch grass, and just genuinely talk to someone across the aisle, that profit driven media narrative dissolves.

I sat down with a Trump supporter who believed the Covid Vaccine was a conspiracy, and DEI is hurting America. I listened to him empathetically and understood that his beliefs come from the same source as most of the country: care for the people that surround him, a desire for truth and justice, and interference by predatory media.

When we are confined within our own “safe spaces,” anyone outside can be a danger. And regardless of the accuracy or validity of the reporting, media designed to inspire fear often inspires hate. So we lose our country fighting ghosts, united under dogmatic division, always being told that America is in decline because of “them.”

But it’s important to remember: it is only the division of Americans that can cause the decline of America. Our job, as Citizens of the United States, is to establish the trust that people of a more perfect union would feel for each other. It is to choose unity over division and progress over punishment. 

It is to escape the political division George Washington warned us about, protect our democracy and pursue new horizons. We do that by engaging civilly and dutifully in our government. Whether it’s registering voters, working at the polls, or going to your county commission meeting, that’s what creates a strong democracy.

I’m running for State Senate in Florida to stand united with my country, pushing forward into a brighter future.