There are things “both sides” can agree upon such as clean air and drinking water being vital to preserve.
Yet these issues get so politicized that they force us into tribal-like “us versus them” as though we’re feverishly defending our sports team.
“Polarization is killing our country. It is weakening our political and social bonds, separating our economic fortunes and driving bitter cultural divides.
Hyper-partisanship is poisoning our politics, making our democracy seem increasingly dysfunctional. A fixation on our differences is fracturing us into warring tribes, threatening to turn our country into little more than a collection of grievance groups who believe that folks on the other side of the divide are the ones really tearing our nation apart.
This is not the American way. It is the opposite of the secret of our success, summed up by our national motto, e pluribus unum — “out of many, one.”
Healing our divided nation is the defining challenge of our time. Because nothing less than the success of the American experiment is at stake.” John Avlon November 1, 2019
Polarization is poisoning America. Here’s an antidote
A new book by economist Peter Temin finds that the U.S. is no longer one country, but dividing into two separate economic and political worlds
America is Regressing into a Developing Nation for Most People
We have a structure that predetermines winners and losers. We are not getting the benefits of all the people who could contribute to the growth of the economy, to advances in medicine or science which could improve the quality of life for everyone — including some of the rich people.” https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/america-is-regressing-into-a-developing-nation-for-most-people
Humanity is Suffering from a Divide and Conquer Strategy So much infighting. So much disagreement. So much disharmony. Humanity is dazed and confused like never before.
A NEW STUDY SHOWS HOW AMERICAN POLARIZATION IS DRIVEN BY A TEAM SPORT MENTALITY, NOT BY DISAGREEMENT ON ISSUES
https://theintercept.com/2018/04/03/politics-liberal-democrat-conservative-republican/
Collective Fear mongering
“Reject fear and Summon what is best in us” Obama
They appeal to the fear of “the other” to darker angels rather than the brighter angers”
Obama is appealing to reason to get out the vote. Trump is appealing to fear.
Imagine Obama or Clinton doing this:
President Trump to claim ‘absolute immunity’ from subpoenas in Supreme Court appeal
My Semester With the Snowflakes At 52, I was accepted to Yale as a freshman. The students I met there surprised me. https://gen.medium.com/my-semester-with-the-snowflakes-888285f0e662
In “These Truths,” Jill Lepore looks at the history of America’s polarization
Man who was pulled into the far-right through YouTube explains how the platform is used for radicalization https://www.mediamatters.org/maga-trolls/man-who-was-pulled-far-right-through-youtube-explains-how-platform-used-radicalization?redirect_source=/video/2019/06/12/Man-who-was-pulled-into-the-far-right-through-YouTube-explains-how-the-platform-is-used-fo/223910
How corporate America invented ‘Christian America’ to fight the New Deal http://churchandstate.org.uk/2016/03/how-corporate-america-invented-christian-america-to-fight-the-new-deal/
Rural Christian white America has a dark and terrifying underbelly
‘I met my troll’: What happened next?
The Prophecies of Q — The Atlantic
The System Failed the Test of Trump
History tells us what may happen next with Brexit & Trump Trump and Putin supporters don’t read the Guardian, so writing there is just reassuring our friends. We need to find a way to bridge from our closed groups to other closed groups, try to cross the ever widening social divides. https://medium.com/@tswriting/history-tells-us-what-will-happen-next-with-brexit-trump-a3fefd154714#.uzv1wh5c0
Facebook users tend almost entirely to click on links that they agree with, meaning that their news feeds can become an echo chamber, according to new research. We need to avoid our own echo chambers.
Donald Trump and Joe Biden town halls underscore America’s parallel realities
These candidates would be addressing different audiences whether they were together or not. https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/donald-trump-joe-biden-town-halls-underscore-america-s-parallel-n1243481?icid=msd_topgrid
Our country is tearing itself apart. Here’s one way to bring people together https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/12/opinions/white-house-council-of-national-unity-gest-feliz/index.html
Alaska is a new model for ending toxic political partisanship in America
Alaska may have shown a way to make our political system reward rather than punish moderation, open the system to new voices and encourage civility.
People with extremist views less able to do complex mental tasks, research suggests
Quaking Interlude 