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The Outpost Cafe / Re: The Man Who Panned the Beatles
« on: March 11, 2024, 11:46:36 AM »
In the US, domestic news generally takes first place to news of other countries, but I get the impression that increasing polarization of views is something happening in many countries. It certainly is in the US, where (as noted above) polarization/tribalism has progressed to the point where people do not listen to each other.
I can't even quote an NPR (National Public Radio) story in social media without a knee-jerk reply from someone who tells me everything on NPR is lies and "lefty propaganda." I feel the exact opposite as someone involved with a leading journalism college, and I know that NPR listeners are increasing in number, but rational arguments don't seem to carry any weight.
It makes the situation more confusing that there are elected leaders who are rational and interested in compromise when they can discuss it in private, but when they appear in public they feel that they have to don the mask of their party and oppose everything the other party says.
The situation is worse when we have one really dangerous leader whose closest analog is the uber-nationalists seen in Germany in the 1930s and 40s. Once such a figure gains power over their party, it's dangerous (in various ways) to say anything critical of them. We have long-time elected officials retiring because they're not willing to deal with it any longer.
I think we will ride out the current power figure and avoid going down the path of isolationism and nationalism, but it concerns me deeply. Good news is that there are members of both parties trying to find mutually acceptable ways to make things work without sticking their heads up far enough to lose them politically.
I can't even quote an NPR (National Public Radio) story in social media without a knee-jerk reply from someone who tells me everything on NPR is lies and "lefty propaganda." I feel the exact opposite as someone involved with a leading journalism college, and I know that NPR listeners are increasing in number, but rational arguments don't seem to carry any weight.
It makes the situation more confusing that there are elected leaders who are rational and interested in compromise when they can discuss it in private, but when they appear in public they feel that they have to don the mask of their party and oppose everything the other party says.
The situation is worse when we have one really dangerous leader whose closest analog is the uber-nationalists seen in Germany in the 1930s and 40s. Once such a figure gains power over their party, it's dangerous (in various ways) to say anything critical of them. We have long-time elected officials retiring because they're not willing to deal with it any longer.
I think we will ride out the current power figure and avoid going down the path of isolationism and nationalism, but it concerns me deeply. Good news is that there are members of both parties trying to find mutually acceptable ways to make things work without sticking their heads up far enough to lose them politically.