quora | The
problem with this whole impeachment thing is more serious than most
people realize. The broader problem we are facing is one of confidence.
Governments, at least effective governments, only survive so long as the
vast majority of the people living under it have confidence in its
competence and fairness, especially fairness. If enough people come to
believe their government is unfair/one sided/corrupt, that government
will either collapse or the whole country slumps into a sort of 3rd
world banana republic.
The
right has come to believe this is he case with our government over the
last 15 to 20 years, and since the ’16 election, the left is starting to
believe this as well. The reasons for both beliefs are varied and I
won’t go into them here. It would take too long and it would be
pointless. The right can’t be convinced of the left’s point of view, and
the left can’t be convinced of the right’s point of view. The important
thing is this; if Trump isn’t impeached the left will be utterly
convinced it is proof the government has become so corrupt that it is no
longer worth supporting. If Trump is impeached they will take it as
proof that the deep state has taken over the government, and so the
government is no longer legitimate.
Either
way, when this whole thing finally comes to an end, there will be
around 30% of the population who believe the government lacks
legitimacy. That’s more than enough to eventually lead to a civil war or
mark the beginning of a slide into banana republic status. Ultimately
this isn’t about Trump. The problem pre-dates him. The problem is that
the left and the right no longer believe in the same fundamental
principles, no longer share a common world view, or even culture.
Indeed, the two world views are incompatible. I’m not saying one is
better than the other. I’m just observing the two can no longer
comfortably co-exist within the same country. Like a married couple that
no longer loves each other and now spends all their time angrily
arguing with one another, the healthiest thing we could do is recognize
we have irreconcilable differences and seek and amicable divorce.
