A nation united. Land of the free. Home of the brave. Are we?

Not a day goes by that we don’t hear our leaders, and our opinion makers, and the press tell us that, as a people, we are a nation divided — divided Republican and Democrat, Liberal and Conservative, divided by age, race, gender, and so on. Division, divisiveness, lack of unity, no common cause, polarized … that’s the problem, we’re told. How do we solve that problem? What can we do about it?

Our President, the White House, the Republican Senate are all being divisive. So are the Speaker and the Democrat leadership in Congress. Whether it is a quip in a tweet or an organized impeachment proceeding, the battle rages on, and the losers in this battle are the American citizens. We watch as our so called, “leaders” (who historically have been called our “representatives”) throw grenades at each other, while the real opportunities for better government service lays dormant.

Whether it is about Russia meddling in our affairs, Ukraine being bribed, Hillary’s emails or Trump’s impeachment, anyone with independent thought can clearly see that they are looking at a partisan battle, a power grab, a long-fought bitter quarrel between the equivalent of the Hatfields and the McCoys.

One idea to resolve the dispute is that we simply change the forum. Instead of putting Democrats on one side of the dais and Republicans opposite them on the other side, what if we alternate the seating? Seat a Republican next to a Democrat next to a Republican next to a Democrat. Rather than Democrats and Republicans grandstanding and rudely shouting at each other divided on opposite ends of the dais, they would be seen sitting next to each other, calmly compromising and solving problems. Or just make it alphabetical, or random, so no one paints the alternating seats red or blue.

Think of what could happen! Rather than the appearance of having them all line up in fierce opposition like the armies in the movie Braveheart, they would at least seem like they were all working together toward a common goal for the good of the citizens of the country, and it would set an example for people to be open, connected, and peaceful. Globally, we could be respected as a model country to be learned from rather than feared as a chaotic source of dissonance.

It’s not all just appearances and posing. There are real benefits to a little forced integration: People get to know each other better, they can talk about things they have in common, even little things. Sociologists tell us the best way to overcome our prejudices is to get to know people. Putting Democrat next to Republican encourages conversation during breaks and recesses, or while the hearing is waiting for the testimony to begin. That personal knowledge might lead to a little more comity in session and in committee hearings.

Randomly seating members of the judiciary committee sets an example for the public, showing our representatives working together for the common good. In addition, members of the committee begin to overcome their biases by getting to better know their fellow members. That leads to better understanding of other people’s principles, values, and preferences, even their wants and needs. That leads to better governance, and less division. It also humanizes everyone. Our representatives will spend less time picking on people’s pasts and focus more on how great our future can become.

Nero plays while Rome burns. Or maybe, people are arguing about the placement of the doilies while the Titanic sinks. The foundations that built our country are starting to erode, and we are arguing about who said what to whom.

While our so called “leaders” bicker to get viral air time, America looks more and more like a 3rd world country. We still vote on paper in booths. We still sign things with a physical scrawl. We still use credit cards and fiat money. It takes a team of experts to properly pay our byzantine taxes, where government could increase revenues and lower costs by simply collecting taxes electronically through a simple transaction fee. Our infrastructure looks like the 1950s. Our once shining cities are cracking. The foundation for a successful democracy is education and our education is slipping. Our freedoms that made us so strong as a nation are getting regulated away by corporate and public union lobbying. Our taxes are among the highest anywhere now. We have too many people meddling in government and not enough working for themselves and their customers. We incarcerate more people per capita than any other nation. We have more lawsuits per capita than any other government. It seems that we are no longer free, nor brave. And people are starting to want to leave.

These problems don’t stem from one political party or another. They stem from gridlock, anger, frustration, and pettiness of people choosing sides rather than choosing the best paths forward for our citizens.

C’mon America, let’s get over the bickering so we can start doing the real work of government, and lead ourselves and the rest of the world to a free, peaceful, productive, futuristic and loving planet.