At the Lycoming County Commissioners Meeting on Thursday, May 22, I thought I was in for a remake of the movie “Rocky II” when Muncy Township supervisor candidate Terri Lauchle returned to follow up on the issues she brought up several weeks ago about the old Lycoming County Mall complex.

It led to another back and forth with the commissioners, and as I listened, I realized that Terri Lauchle was definitely concerned about the future of that complex, and the commissioners were also concerned about anything that would diminish important business development and avoid any violation of laws.

As I listened, I recognized that this simple back-and-forth discussion is actually an example of the essence, the heart, the very lifeblood of politics — the fight for the moral high ground.

Ever wonder why Republicans cannot understand Democrats and vice versa? It seems so obvious to ourselves that the cause we are championing is right and good. Why cannot others on the opposite side see what is so obvious?

It comes back to the way our brains work. Even criminals justify their actions in one way or another. Everyone believes that their concerns, feelings, and expectations are the most important because their values are the ones that matter most to them.

We can see this in politics going all the way back to the very founding of our nation that we are celebrating next month.

Why were the colonists unhappy with Mother England? They felt helpless with taxation without representation, the Intolerable Acts, the Stamp Act, the Boston Massacre, etc. Likewise, the British believed that the American colonists were disrupting the basis of the English Empire, which covered the entire world.

In fact, pick any time period in our history, and you will find that there was something that relates to opposite moral ideals.

The Civil War was against slavery for the North and states’ rights for the South. The Northerners believed slavery was a denial of American freedom, and Southerners could not imagine how they could free the slaves without destroying their economy and way of life. Both sides felt they had the moral high ground.

Ironically, both sides might have equal standards. For example, consider the Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade decision on abortion in 1973. For the next four decades, there would be a back-and-forth debate between Republicans, who believed it was wrong to take a life, and Democrats, who believed it was a matter of liberty of the individual.

Both of these are sincere moral standards. In fact, the Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Notice how this justifies both sides of the debate? Republicans focus on the “unalienable right” of life, whereas Democrats focus on liberty, and both are pursuing happiness.

When this template is used, it explains why both parties are so adamant that the other side is wrong. Democrats emphasize that funds must be provided for those who are hurting, whereas Republicans emphasize the danger of debt to the economy. Take any issue, and it will reveal that each side considers their focus as the most noble, important, and necessary action.

Here is the worst part of this conundrum. Once our minds are set on one position, our brain only wants to receive what confirms that position. Thus, we only hear what we want to hear. And so the wheel goes around and around on taxes, inflation, abortion, immigration, gun control, climate change, etc., etc.

Back at that LyCo meeting, the three commissioners were again going back and forth with Ms. Lauchle, and again, both sides were making an effort to explain their case to the other. It reminded me of the Russian saying when there was an impasse, “Find the way that the sheep is not eaten and the wolf is not hungry.”