Opinion: Libertarians more able to see both sides

How can you expect people, especially those who believe in politics, to agree on anything when they can’t even agree on the reality of what is happening right in front of them?

Add in the opposing way events are framed, depending on the bias of the information source, and I don’t think it’s possible.

I saw neighboring yards in town; one had a Trump yard sign and the other had a Harris sign. I’d bet both think they are the reasonable one and their neighbor is nuts. Or maybe they see it as a moral issue. There is an objective reality out there somewhere, but while both can be wrong, there is no way both can be right.

Every event and situation you’ll hear about in the political news has at least two explanations, depending on who describes it. If you only get exposed to one side or the other, you may not notice this.

A couple of recent examples come to mind:

“Another brainwashed loser tried to assassinate Trump,” or “Trump staged another assassination attempt because the news forgot about the last one.”

“Haitian refugees are eating pet cats and dogs, which belong to other people,” or “it’s not happening and the anti-Haitian rhetoric is endangering the safety of innocent people.”

Which version you’ve heard depends on which media sources you listen to the most. You can pick almost any politicized story and see the same thing.

One side is likely more correct than the other. Or at least reality will lean more in one direction than the other.

I think one side is reasonable and the other is closer to insane. It seems obvious, but I’ve seen others making the argument that looks crazy from where I sit, so it must seem reasonable to them.

I believe politics clouds the mind, making it nearly impossible for people to think rationally, or even to see things as they truly are when politics enters the picture. Author and Dilbert creator Scott Adams describes the situation as “Two movies on one screen.” He’s right, except there are more than two “movies.”

I think libertarians are more able than most to see both movies at once, or at least we can flip back and forth between them to understand what others are seeing. In most cases, one still looks more sensible than the other to me, but in some instances, both look downright delusional.

Farwell’s Kent McManigal champions liberty. Contact him at:

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