How have your political views changed over time?

One of my favorite SNL skits shows a stark reality of American Life recently: the political turmoil in every family. It’s Thanksgiving and arguments break out between different viewpoints and factions, and then a child starts playing an Adele song and the arguing suddenly stops.

Click here to see the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2zyjbH9zzA

This is just the reality of the situation. This skit made me laugh really hard, but it also made me think about how silly we are. Our feelings about certain issues used to take back seat to the priority of keeping the peace on sacred holidays and enjoying a meal with family and friends. Our tolerance seems to have diminished culturally at the same time our ability to value others and sacred spaces dropped. We already had a problem with living on our separate private property, staying away from each other, and isolating, and now this cultural tribalism thinking has added on a new dimension to our fractured society. Did the media create this? Alternatively, are they just a reflection, like in a mirror, of our own trends? Regardless, this is the setting of my own story: So, has my political thinking changed over the years? I guess my answer is that I have changed. Let me try to explain:

I am no longer a black and white thinker. Maybe I was raised this way, or maybe the cultural influences of the times pushed me to polarized opinions, but my youth was certainly characterized by seeing things as good or bad, life or death, up or down… In the second half of my life, I have come to a few important realizations. First, the rainbow is a much better analogy then up or down. There are so many shades… the colors bleed into each other. My brain can make sense of the world in the complexity, as opposed to some simplistic theory. Secondly, I have no idea what is going on. Age has brought humility to me in many ways. I do not have all the answers, and I am more aware of what I do not know compared to what I actually know.

When I hear current political discourse, I am shocked by what people say and the confidence they portray. I wonder if they are living this same life… am I missing out on something? Do they have this change going on in their thinking as they age, or am I devolving, losing the assurance of youth?

A striking change that I noticed about 15 years ago, was the bizarre appearance of political discourse in the exam room in primary care. A certain segment of the population would suddenly feel the need to provoke a political argument with me while at the same time discussing their bowel problems. I, at the time, thought I was in no way provoking any political discussion, and when I asked why folks brought this up, they often said I “looked liberal”, “all health care workers are communists”, “doctors are just making money on this”, and “now I know how you pay your golf fees” (I don’t play golf). I felt shocked at these comments and to this day, I have no idea why they thought the way they did or why they felt the need to push their views my direction. During the Trump presidency and then especially during COVID, many of my patients would go on and on about the conspiracies supposedly leaching from the walls of our office, all with political overtones. I tried to reassure people. I tried so hard to be reasonable.

This has faded somewhat since then, but has certainly left a bad taste in my mouth. Honestly, my colleagues and I were not part of some vast conspiracy to push vaccines, masks, and lock down on a vulnerable population. We spent hours pouring over every piece of research that we could find and have long discussions over the risk versus the benefit of our actions and how that would affect our locale. The stress level was high, and we were scared. Most of our patients were kind and considerate in this time, but probably 20-30% were on the spectrum from insensitive to downright horrible.

My political thinking has subsequently changed because the world changed me. Now, I feel foremost that I do not want to be labeled. I will not reveal in public spaces my voting record and my political leanings. As an advocate for health, though, I will state that I am disappointed in the way all the parties advocate for some position instead of someone’s life. The real victims of policy decisions are left reeling in the “unintended” consequences of powerlessness. The one big reality of American healthcare is that if you have power and money, then you are healthier and live longer. If you have a mental illness, then you are either thrown on the streets or into jail. If you are poor and live in a poor neighborhood, you are horribly at risk for multimorbidity (the presence of 2 or more chronic health conditions) which creates the highest cost burden on our health system. If you are a woman or minority in this same landscape, then your odds are even worse. These facts are not just politically motivated postulates, but actual people who suffer. The heart of my job is to take care of these people, and not just by throwing pills at them and somehow making money off of that. Healing the whole person takes a wide lens, looking at lifestyle choices, family and work dynamics, social stressors, and inherited predisposition. A fairly new bent in primary care is looking through this lens called Whole Health. It combines traditional primary care with mental health, lifestyle education, and even spiritual direction. I certainly have this agenda when I see a person, and certain lenses predispose some folks to see me as an agitator. All I am trying to do is tell the truth, and help you out to the best of my ability.

Advocating for health is not a political statement in my view, though: it is a moral imperative. If we claim to be an advanced society, then our health as a whole is a reflection of our success. In health measures, we in the United States rank on the bottom of countries like ourselves with similar wealth and economies, despite the fact that we outspend everyone in the world. So, the unintended consequence of our public health system is poor performance. Our system is a direct result of our political efforts. From my view, the health system has designs that were manufactured to siphon money and power into certain channels that benefit a few, and this bent has created the subpar performance across the board. We need to climb out of this mess!

It is hard to look at our political landscape and not feel overwhelmed or just completely bummed out. Do our leaders have any clue? Do they just choose to be ignorant of the real world to play like an instrument the masses, gathering them to self like the pied piper leading the children away to their doom? Do they not see the mess that is so plainly sitting there in the hospitals, primary care offices, urgent cares, and other healthcare settings across this land?

I do believe the glass is half full though. We as a human species have this cognitive gift that can be used for good. My sincere hope is that we can be kind, empathetic, and sympathetic to those who suffer. This type of thinking can certainly change the world into a better place, a healthier place, and one that I want for my children to experience.

Does this have political implications? Yes. No matter what political party you belong to or what philosophy you lean into, truth, justice, compassion, and empathy can all coexist and influence the actual policy decisions you believe in. If you are conservative, you don’t have to believe in policy decisions that are draconian towards others. If you are a liberal, you don’t have to believe in policy decisions that exclude the individual, and discount faith. If you have slid into extreme thinking, then step out of it and realize the error of your ways, and rethink what you actually believe.

We, as humans, are dynamic to the core. We just don’t sit in a static environment. The only constant is change… In this we can embrace these waves, and grow. What values will guide us as we vote, advocate for policy, and look out at our neighbor? A good way to re-evaluate: ask yourself, What are the actual implications of my political thinking? Is this the legacy I want to leave for those who will outlive me?

At the end of the day, a health adventure will not lead you down a political rabbit hole. It will lead you to consider others, your future, and the action steps you can take for a better world for yourself and others. We will all benefit from this proactive thinking and action.