How did we come to the point of distrusting our neighbors?

It is hard to stay positive about the future of this great nation when we are at least as divided now as we were before and during the Civil War. Restricting access to the vote shows how little we've changed since the antebellum South.

Some believe that we are experiencing the beginning of another Civil War. At the very least some are encouraging physical conflict should things not go their way. This faction is seemingly led or at least inspired by our former president.

It is becoming more obvious nearly every day that many on trial for the atrocities of Jan. 6, 2021, believed that they were following through on the wishes, if not the commands, of the former commander-in-chief.

This man’s falsehoods have been researched and documented by fact checkers, journalists and scholars, reported in all manner of media and debunked by many more qualified than I. I will not bore you with a recounting of his ill-tempered diatribes and not so subtle attempts to convince us of his honesty and integrity.

Ultimately, my question is this: how did we come to the point of distrusting our neighbors?

I have come to the sad conclusion that the truth stems from the origins of the original Civil War. No, not slavery. The origins of that war rest in the falsehood of one human (or group of humans) deeming themselves better than another.

History shows that the post-Civil War era citizens displayed the same traits of egocentric behavior that we are experiencing today. Not trusting the majority because we deem ourselves better than the other is the hallmark of that behavior. Thus, we try to limit access to voting, much like post-war southern states tried to do. They succeeded in many cases, just as many states are achieving voting restrictions now.

Besides closing many polling places and limiting early voting opportunities, perhaps the most egregious of these vote restricting laws on the books today is Georgia law SB 202 that makes it illegal for people — and not just people from political organizations — to hand out food or bottles of water within 150 feet of a polling place or 25 feet of any voter standing in line. Here in the north, where it can often be snowy and cold on election day, this may not seem consequential. In the south, where long voting lines in the heat are possible, especially when polling places have been declining, well, you can envision the dire outcomes.

Georgia elected officials who created and passed the law claim it does not criminalize handing out water. How does that claim square with a possible year in jail and a $1,000 fine for doing so?

My assertion that these laws are based upon egocentrism is based upon the simple fact that the longest lines at polling places in Georgia are overwhelmingly in Black districts and eliminating many polling places will make those lines even longer.

Egocentrism makes us see ourselves as better than others. It would not be a hardship for white lawmakers in Georgia to be denied water in their shorter voting lines. Because of egocentric views of life, these same politicians find it difficult to see the harm that may be caused to others.

Finally, our former president’s own egocentrism has pushed him to falsely claim that voter fraud is rampant. How else, he declares, to explain that he lost an election by some seven million votes? Those who are passing restrictive voting laws have seized his statements to that effect to explain their new laws.

I have avoided the loaded terms racism and racist in this missive because it is often denied by otherwise good people that they embody those terms. If, however, we can understand egocentric behavior as the cause of many of our disagreements, perhaps we can also begin to see egocentrism as the root of racism and racist actions.

But dropping the veil of our own ego takes at least a modicum of empathy and that for many is difficult.

Of course, the simple act of presenting my opinion in this public forum is an egocentric act. In that vein I hope that I display some of the respect and modesty that empathy demands. In the end, empathy enables me to remain positive.

— This is the opinion of Times Writers Group member Ben Ament, world citizen. He hopes to leave that world slightly better than he found it. His column is published the fourth Sunday of the month.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: How did we come to the point of distrusting our neighbors?