Memory Well

The daily "memories" feature has become my favorite aspect of Facebook. It could be simple navel gazing, but looking back at snippets of life that seemed worth posting provides a mix of joy, gratitude, and sorrow that provides an opportunity for reflection that may be a short and simple as the original experience but that may also open onto something deeper.
To make of a life more than a series of unrelated experiences that change nothing requires reflection, and in recent months dipping into the memory has become the prompt for my morning prayers.
Today's memories included this note from nine years ago.

I am noticing, with curiosity and a bit of sadness, that none of my friends has Republican friends either ... it's no wonder American politics is so deeply divided -- we don't know each other (or we don't like each other).

I have no clue what kind of survey data this observation from nine years ago was based on but I don't doubt its general validity. I am also certain that the situation has only grown worse -- more stratified and contested -- since then. It still makes me sad.
It also makes me believe that our two-party system has outlived its usefulness. I don't know if it's true for most of us, but for many of us neither "Democrat" nor "Republican" comes close to representing the complex political, social, and economic views we hold, much less the spiritual ones.
Personally, I'm way off the left end of the spectrum somewhere with the democratic socialists, but I'm not going to capitalize that because the party that gathers under that name still doesn't come close to representing the web of my own convictions nor does it have any realistic chance to win elections I can vote in.
Whatever else I may be or believe in, I am a small "d" democrat. I believe that the best decisions for the most people get made when the most voices are heard. Our current system is designed to shut out the voices of people who do not already hold power within the system -- either by virtue of money (most of the time) or privilege (all of the time). That is not a bug. It's a feature. The dominant two parties are simply the ones who currently best exploit it.
If we, the people, don't figure out how to speak with one another with care, concern, and compassion we will never figure out a politics which honors our disparate voices, much less one that roughly crafts a social order that meets our disparate needs.
I really didn't anticipate this when I strolled down memory lane this morning!