The first two decades of the 21st century has been marked by one word: Polarization. That is the divisions within societies and between nations into two sharply distinct opposites. This is when opinions, beliefs, or interests no longer range along a continuum but become concentrated at opposing extremes.
Across society, it is not an either/or situation. Intelligence is not either a 50 IQ or 150 IQ, there is a range as there is with wealth. However, the 21st century has seen huge polarization when it comes to opinions and ideas. Nowadays you are either a “believer” or a “heretic”. “Climate Change Alarmist” or “Climate Change Denier”. If someone disagrees with your views on social issues, he is a “fascist”.
US President George W. Bush was happy to coin and use the term “axis of evil” many times during his administration. It originally was to refer to Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as if those nations had a common history, goals, and methods. We are now witnessing the same thing regarding Ukraine and Russia.
Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine has created a disaster for Europe and a mini-catastrophe for the rest of the world. But there has yet to be heard a voice of reason to even suggest that maybe there is a better way to handle the situation. And how could there be since it is completely “good” versus “evil”. The world has lost the ability of “nuance”, the idea that there are or at last might be different shades of good and evil especially in politics and regarding social and economic issues.
Polarization is simple to define in practical terms. It is the clear and strongly held idea that I and those who hold the same beliefs/opinions are right and you and anyone else who disagrees with me are wrong. And you should absolutely change your views to be the same as mine. No discussion.
That might be true when you are talking about drinking bleach or battery acid. But what about eating pork (Muslims), beef (Hindus) or shellfish (Orthodox Jews)? Is wanting to have sexual relations with a 10-year-old person society-damaging “pedophilia” or a “minor-attracted person” lifestyle choice? Does a nation or group of nations have the right to encourage or force another country/society to adopt certain laws regardless of the people’s culture or history?
Does polarization matter?
The 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer addresses polarization directly. Sampling more than 32,000 respondents across 28 countries, respondents were asked, “Would you help, live near, or work with someone who disagreed with your political and social point of view?”
Only 30 percent said they would help someone who disagreed with them. As to “Be willing to live in the same neighborhood” and “Be willing to have them as a coworker”, only 20 percent said “Yes”.
Here is the list of six of the countries considered to be severely polarized: Argentina, Colombia, United States, South Africa, Spain, and Sweden. The least polarized were Indonesia, China, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and India.
Sixty-two percent of respondents said, “The social fabric that once held my country together has grown too weak to serve as a foundation for unity and common purpose”.
The majority of people do not trust government (59 percent) and the press/media (53 percent). What the Edelman survey also found is that the greater the perception of polarization, the greater the distrust. Based on 23 annual trust and credibility surveys, Richard Edelman puts it this way: “Without intervention, we will see a continued move from a crisis of institutional trust to a crisis of interpersonal trust”.
The question then becomes, are our political and social opinions more important than the people that live next door? If so, I think we are eventually doomed.
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