It occurred to me today that our current political system it’s kind of like a s’more.

If you’ve ever made more than a few s’mores –and trust me, I’ve made hundreds– then you know what the issue is. If you end up making the perfect s’more with the perfectly roasted marshmallow and the chocolate and the graham cracker and everything seems like it’s going according to plan, and then you smoosh it, to encourage the chocolate and the melted marshmallow to become this magical melted confection in your mouth. And, when you smoosh it, here’s what happens –> the extra squirts out of the sides and it gets on your fingers.

And the problem with melted s’more on your fingers is that it’s a sloppy mess. If you’re not careful, it could even end up ruining the whole experience.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about party politics in America, and how it has (either recently or maybe not so recently) become very contentious and hate-filled and disgusting. I’ve been thinking about my party affiliations throughout my life and how I feel like those are changing because of the way that things are developing in our country and because of movements within these political parties.

I’ve been thinking a lot about extremism, as well.

I think of how wonderful a perfectly constructed s’more can be. I think about how the vast majority of Americans are probably more moderate than extremist. The pressure that you put on the s’more to get the chocolate and the marshmallow to mix is what causes things, if you’re not careful, to squirt out the sides.

From what I understand, liberals and conservatives all have had their problems recently with the most extreme members of their parties, in much the same way that I hate getting s’more shmutz on my fingers.

The party that I’ve voted for most of my life has recently run away from me, and so I find myself wondering what to do about that. I’ve thought, at certain points, that the two-party system is the problem, but at other times, I wonder if we just need more cooperation and less bitter division.

It’s the squeeze that causes the s’more to smoosh out of the sides. So, if we can ride this metaphor for another mile, I wonder about the pressure that is causing the extremism in American politics. What is causing extremist liberals to head toward socialism? What is causing extremist conservatives to head toward fascism? Why do people feel like these positions are worth occupying, and in light of what current social pressures are these changes occurring?

Why can’t I just squeeze down on my s’more and not have the goop shooting out the sides?

I guess, when I think about it, this is how things usually go down: I squeeze, I get the shmutz, and then I have to wipe it off of my hands. I use a napkin to clean my hands and then I toss that napkin, covered in the shmutz, into the fire.

I would hope that a reasonable citizenry would do the same thing –> recognize that extremism is to be avoided and abhorred, discard it as so much pointless inconvenience, and move forward with enjoying your s’more. Don’t let it ruin the experience for you. Don’t focus it on it or become consumed by it or even be surprised when it happens. Just deal with it, get past it, and move on.