United

In the wake of this year’s US mid-term elections, the pundits seem to agree that the country is more divided than ever; a New York Times headline today reads, “Unusually high voter turnout illustrates the intensity of divisions in the era of Donald Trump.”

And while it’s by no means inaccurate to point out that Americans hold strongly opposed views on any number of issues, I do think we all still have a lot in common.  Policy, positions, and politicians may divide us, but what we care most deeply about unites us.  Consider these seven values that all Americans share, regardless of demographics, political affiliations, or even favored NFL team.

1. Fairness: Everyone agrees that everyone should be treated fairly.  We disagree on what fairness looks like, hence the debates over immigration policy, social security, and so on.  But all Americans believe that people should get what they deserve and deserve what they get.
2. Liberty: Liberty is different than freedom; not everyone agrees that everyone should be free.  But we all value the right to live our lives as we set fit to live them; whether you’re a gun-totin’ pickup-drivin’ Nascar-lovin’ redneck or a chardonnay-sipping, Prius-owning, yoga-doing liberal snowflake, we all want the liberty to be who we are.
3. Winning: Americans love to win.  Unfortunately, where there are winners, there are losers and that’s where the disagreement and divisiveness comes in.  But if the winners remember that without the losers, there are no winners, then perhaps shared value is easier to come by.
4. Loved Ones: Everyone loves their loved ones; in most, if not nearly all cases, these loved ones are family, but it’s an overstatement to say that, as Americans, we uniformly share a love for family; lots of people don’t even like their families, but we all like the people we like.
5. Courage: Courage is a particularly American virtue; we all hold in great esteem those whom we identify as courageous.  Again, we disagree over what actions count as courageous, but we are brought together in our shared appreciation for courageous actions, whatever they may be.
6. Ingenuity: This is another characteristically American quality of character.  All our national heroes, whether on the right, left, or in the middle, were individuals who figured something out for themselves in order to make life better or easier for other people.  “Good old-fashioned American ingenuity” is really a thing and a thing that we all really value.
7. Security: Even the most contentious issues of the day, like gun control, for instance, are really disagreements over the shared value of security.  Above all, Americans (and probably, people everywhere) share a desire to live safely, free from fear, and secure from attack and persecution.  If only we could keep in mind that the surest way to establish and maintain security in our lives is to recognize our shared values and establish a greater sense of unity and harmony among us all, a unity and harmony that really is there if only we stop arguing long enough to see it.