HOW Did The U.S. Get So Polarized?

[iLander]

I blame the media. Throughout these last few election cycles, they have picked out the fruits and weirdos of each party and held them up for ridicule.

To the point that we paint Democrats or Republicans or Independents with broad brushes of disdain.

We've somehow gotten to the point that many have become "bigots" based on political party!

Isn't this a bit ridiculous? I think we've been manipulated for media ratings, and now it's seeped into our collective subconscious, and I think it's making us unhappy. And it kinda makes me mad.

I don't like letting my party affiliation slip, and seeing the listener's eyes glaze over. I can see a whole host of untruths and stereotypes about me cross their faces and color our potential friendship. Worse yet, I do the same thing to them.

How can we stop it?!!

(not related to any PS topic or post, this just occurred to me this morning)

 

[ForteKitty]

People in those positions need to be held accountable for what they say, so I'm glad the media is broadcasting their "flubs". It comes with the territory. If the parties don't like the stereotypes, maybe they need to look within and figure out why they put up with those rotten fruits who ruin everything.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I think people need to sometimes just shut up if they have really strong beliefs. Maybe people are watching too much TV and conclude it's okay to monologue out long rants about their beliefs or possibly the ability to hide behind the internet has spread out into real-life interactions, as well, because people have become rather emboldend to say whatever is on their mind w/out considering that the person they are talking might become annoyed. lol I don't know how to stop it on a grand scale, but if a person talks to much about politics with me, I avoid them! I think it all = toxic relationship scenerio.

 

[kenny]

Even before I read your post one word came into my mind, MEDIA.
They make money by getting you to watch.
The more drama, conflict and emotion they can exaggerate or even invent, the longer they can hold onto your eyeballs and the more money they make.

As long as we live in countries with free speech and under capitalism this cannot be stopped or even regulated.
The solution is to just not consume media, at least do not watch TV "news, and mute the audio for political commercials and go back to reading your book, darning the socks, playing with the dog etc..

 

[MissGotRocks]

Totally agree with the media. We are constantly bombarded by radio, tv, computer and it keeps those negative thoughts swirling all the time. The election was barely over and they start harping on the fiscal cliff with their fearmongering and what ifs. It keeps people in panic mode all the time and truly keeps us from opening our minds to other points of view. There is seldom positive points made - all negative that keep you tuning back in to see if their current doom and gloom predictions are indeed coming true.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Even before I read your post one word came into my mind, MEDIA..

There are a couple of my relatives who watch HOURS of TV per day and then mimic what they hear on TV! It is really weird. It's like they're hypnotized.

 

[dreamer_dachsie]

There are two parties. Random choice would result in 50/50 support So get more parties. Solves the problem! ha!

 

[minousbijoux]

iLander, I often wonder the same. I don't know how we got here, and wouldn't disagree with your media assumption as at least part of the problem, but I want to stress what you said about the bigotry. Its amazing to me how accepted it is to be a political bigot. I admit that I am, and am ashamed. But I get this weird reinforcement from my friends when I mention it. They snort and nod and say its little wonder that I don't like/trust the other political party. If I were to say the same thing based on someone's gender, age, race or religion, these same friends would be appalled. How have we let political bigotry become an accepted norm?

 

[lulu]

And the media has a significant liberal bias. I have to say that my conservative facebook friends never posted anything harsher than " I like Romney" while my liberal friends posted, and are still posting, some very offensive stuff.

 

[Circe]

I think we've always been like this - look at the politics of the 19th century. Tammany Hall, anyone?

The difference, I think, isn't just media, but social media: whereas in the past we might have suspected our beliefs didn't jibe with our neighbors, now we can see just how wide the gulf is on FaceBook and Twitter and via e-mail forwards.

 

[kenny]

Political bigot is kind of a problematic term.
Bigotry in race, religion, age, and gender is clearly bad and to be avoided.

But politics itself is about how we feel the entire country/state/city should be.
We vote so X prevails over Y.
X and Y cannot coexist; X or Y gets imposed on 100% of the citizenry.
We can't have two presidents, or two opposite laws.
We have to pick one, then 4 years later the other side gets another chance.

By its very nature politics is about not tolerating the other political perspectives, but conquering them via our vote.
This makes politics not one of the social phenomena that fit nicely into the criteria of bigotry vs. tolerance.

That said, I think we should all be respectful and considerate when dealing with people with differing politics.
We fight political battles alone in the voting booth, not person to person.

 

[vc10um]

And the media has a significant liberal bias. I have to say that my conservative facebook friends never posted anything harsher than " I like Romney" while my liberal friends posted, and are still posting, some very offensive stuff.

I actually had the opposite experience, lulu! Just goes to show you it's both sides that are to blame. My liberal friends mostly stuck to posting funny memes (binders full of women, anyone?) and notes of support for Obama, without discussing Romney, while my conservative friends were always in "attack mode" it seems.

I have to agree with Circe...the entire situation has been exacerbated by social media. Just more platforms for propoganda, vitriol, advertising, spinning...

I do have to say, though, the two party system needs to go. Especially since it is becoming much more clear that my generation (those in their mid-twenties to mid-thirties at this point) is being torn in two and forced to choose between following our wallets and voting for the candidate who may represent better fiscal responsibility and following our hearts by voting for the candidate who supports social equality and fairness. It's really getting old.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Its amazing to me how accepted it is to be a political bigot.

Last night, my kids told me comments some of the kids were making at school after the election and so I now know a couple of the parents who are racist (as I am guessing the kids got this from their parents).

 

[MichelleCarmen]

oops, double post

 

[iLander]

iLander, I often wonder the same. I don't know how we got here, and wouldn't disagree with your media assumption as at least part of the problem, but I want to stress what you said about the bigotry. Its amazing to me how accepted it is to be a political bigot. I admit that I am, and am ashamed. But I get this weird reinforcement from my friends when I mention it. They snort and nod and say its little wonder that I don't like/trust the other political party. If I were to say the same thing based on someone's gender, age, race or religion, these same friends would be appalled. How have we let political bigotry become an accepted norm?

Exactly!

How is it we are supposed to "see beyond" so many of our differences, but it is okay to let this stereotyping persist?

 

[iLander]

Political bigot is kind of a problematic term.
Bigotry in race, religion, age, and gender is clearly bad and to be avoided.

But politics itself is about how we feel the entire country/state/city should be.
We vote so X prevails over Y.
X and Y cannot coexist; X or Y gets imposed on 100% of the citizenry.
We can't have two presidents, or two opposite laws.
We have to pick one, then 4 years later the other side gets another chance.

By its very nature politics is about not tolerating the other political perspectives, but conquering them via our vote.
This makes politics not one of the social phenomena that fit nicely into the criteria of bigotry vs. tolerance.

That said, I think we should all be respectful and considerate when dealing with people with differing politics.
We fight political battles alone in the voting booth, not person to person.

True, Kenny, that is the nature of politics. But politics has taken over our human relationships, our one-on-one interactions.

If I said to you, Kenny "Hi, I'm iLander, I'm a member of the (opposing party)", wouldn't your head be instantly full of ideas about who I am and what I stand for?

And that's what's disappointing about it. I feel a lot of weltschmerz because of this.

 

[iLander]

And the media has a significant liberal bias. I have to say that my conservative facebook friends never posted anything harsher than " I like Romney" while my liberal friends posted, and are still posting, some very offensive stuff.

I actually had the opposite experience, lulu! Just goes to show you it's both sides that are to blame. My liberal friends mostly stuck to posting funny memes (binders full of women, anyone?) and notes of support for Obama, without discussing Romney, while my conservative friends were always in "attack mode" it seems.

I have to agree with Circe...the entire situation has been exacerbated by social media. Just more platforms for propoganda, vitriol, advertising, spinning...

I do have to say, though, the two party system needs to go. Especially since it is becoming much more clear that my generation (those in their mid-twenties to mid-thirties at this point) is being torn in two and forced to choose between following our wallets and voting for the candidate who may represent better fiscal responsibility and following our hearts by voting for the candidate who supports social equality and fairness. It's really getting old.

Should we start treating these jokes the way we treated jokes about race, color and sexual preference?

Should we start to say "that's not funny" or "hey, now, that's not a joke"?

 

[kenny]

Political bigot is kind of a problematic term.
Bigotry in race, religion, age, and gender is clearly bad and to be avoided.

But politics itself is about how we feel the entire country/state/city should be.
We vote so X prevails over Y.
X and Y cannot coexist; X or Y gets imposed on 100% of the citizenry.
We can't have two presidents, or two opposite laws.
We have to pick one, then 4 years later the other side gets another chance.

By its very nature politics is about not tolerating the other political perspectives, but conquering them via our vote.
This makes politics not one of the social phenomena that fit nicely into the criteria of bigotry vs. tolerance.

That said, I think we should all be respectful and considerate when dealing with people with differing politics.
We fight political battles alone in the voting booth, not person to person.

True, Kenny, that is the nature of politics. But politics has taken over our human relationships, our one-on-one interactions.

If I said to you, Kenny "Hi, I'm iLander, I'm a member of the (opposing party)", wouldn't your head be instantly full of ideas about who I am and what I stand for?

And that's what's disappointing about it. I feel a lot of weltschmerz because of this.

Good question.

My answer is yes and no.

Yes, in that it is my nature (and I think everyone's) to like people similar to me more than those who are different.
No, in that I strive to not do what comes natural in this case; I want to rise above that.

I've been on another forum, a virtually unmoderated one, for 10 years and early on I was shown what I bigot I was.
I work to reduce that in myself.

The thing about politics is it is fundamentally different thing than things like race, sexual orientation, gender, age etc.
With those other categories it's not like I want everyone to be a white, gay, male in his 50s.
I do not want a government that forces everyone to be a white, gay, male in his 50s.

But I DO want a government that enforces things like marriage equality for gays.
This would change the society that EVERY American lives in in a way that many do not like.
I DO want to bulldoze over their views on marriage because I think it is wrong to deny marriage equality to gays.

Does that make me a bigot?
Yes and no.
Yes, in that I'm not respecting their right to discriminate against gays (though they have a different way of phrasing it).
No, in that they should not have ever discriminated to begin with.

Politics really IS about forcing your views onto others.

 

[dreamer_dachsie]

And the media has a significant liberal bias. I have to say that my conservative facebook friends never posted anything harsher than " I like Romney" while my liberal friends posted, and are still posting, some very offensive stuff.

I have no horse in this race but I read some interesting research on perceptions of media bias. Liberals think the media is biased to conservatives and concervatives think its biased to liberals This was studied by presenting the *same* faux news article to people. Even with the exact same media presentation, people perceived bias in favour of the political POV they opposed.

 

[iLander]

Good question.

My answer is yes and no.

Yes, in that it is my nature (and I think everyone's) to like people similar to me more than those who are different.
No, in that I strive to not do what comes natural in this case; I want to rise above that.

I've been on another forum, a virtually unmoderated one, for 10 years and early on I was shown what I bigot I was.
I work to reduce that in myself.

The thing about politics is it is fundamentally different thing than things like race, sexual orientation, gender, age etc.
With those other categories it's not like I want everyone to be a white, gay, male in his 50s.
I do not want a government that forces everyone to be a white, gay, male in his 50s.

But I DO want a government that enforces things like marriage equality for gays.
This would change the society that EVERY American lives in in a way that many do not like.
I DO want to bulldoze over their views on marriage because I think it is wrong to deny marriage equality to gays.

Does that make me a bigot?
Yes and no.
Yes, in that I'm not respecting their right to discriminate against gays (though they have a different way of phrasing it).
No, in that they should not have ever discriminated to begin with.

Politics really IS about forcing your views onto others.

Fifties? You don't look a day over 38! (And neither do I, if anyone asks! )

I'm interested to know how the other forum made you think you were a bigot. Wanting to reduce this in myself is what prompted me to write this thread. ("be all that you can be" but without the rifles)

Maybe the fault is not the people, maybe it's the things the government is attempting to legislate; they're getting personal, so we are (rightfully) taking it personally. I'm not sure anyone would actually notice "living with" a lot of laws; marriage equality (aside from driving past a wedding, how would intrude on anyone's life?) for example. If those laws existed, and no one pointed it out, how would others be affected?

Or is it the media again, with the "sky is falling" interpretation of the effect of the laws?

 

[dreamer_dachsie]

Political bigot is kind of a problematic term.
Bigotry in race, religion, age, and gender is clearly bad and to be avoided.

But politics itself is about how we feel the entire country/state/city should be.
We vote so X prevails over Y.
X and Y cannot coexist; X or Y gets imposed on 100% of the citizenry.
We can't have two presidents, or two opposite laws.
We have to pick one, then 4 years later the other side gets another chance.

By its very nature politics is about not tolerating the other political perspectives, but conquering them via our vote.
This makes politics not one of the social phenomena that fit nicely into the criteria of bigotry vs. tolerance.

That said, I think we should all be respectful and considerate when dealing with people with differing politics.
We fight political battles alone in the voting booth, not person to person.

True, Kenny, that is the nature of politics. But politics has taken over our human relationships, our one-on-one interactions.

If I said to you, Kenny "Hi, I'm iLander, I'm a member of the (opposing party)", wouldn't your head be instantly full of ideas about who I am and what I stand for?
And that's what's disappointing about it. I feel a lot of weltschmerz because of this.

What you describe are stereotypes, iLander -- beliefs about the traits and characteristics that group members possess. That is different than bigotry, which implies ill treatment and discrimination against people based on group membership.

Stereotyping is a relatively automatic process, its part of the brain's laziness. Or energy saving methods if you want to be nice about it. I doubt anything will stop people from engaging in stereotyping on some level.

What would perhaps be an interesting question to me, is whether the content of the liberal and conservative stereotyes have changed recently to become more extreme or polarized. I don't know if this is the case or not, its an empirical question.

 

[iLander]

What you describe are stereotypes, iLander -- beliefs about the traits and characteristics that group members possess. That is different than bigotry, which implies ill treatment and discrimination against people based on group membership.

Stereotyping is a relatively automatic process, its part of the brain's laziness. Or energy saving methods if you want to be nice about it. I doubt anything will stop people from engaging in stereotyping on some level.

What would perhaps be an interesting question to me, is whether the content of the liberal and conservative stereotyes have changed recently to become more extreme or polarized. I don't know if this is the case or not, its an empirical question.

My answer is yes, very much so.

To the point where people develop an intense hatred for those of opposing view. It seems to me that in the '80's up until the early 2000's an opposing political view was not really remarked upon, now it's a flash point for instant dislike of another. The intensity has increased at least 10-fold.

 

[HopeDream]

I wonder if the length of time it takes to hold a us election (over a year) allows for a lot more media coverage and a lot more polarization to occur?

Up north we call and hold an election within about 6 weeks, so there is just less time to dig up the really weird stuff about candidates and have the sides bounce party rhetoric and counter-propaganda back and forth.

 

[Dancing Fire]

my family immigrated from HK in 1966 and in the past 40 yrs right before my eyes i see that our society have changed from a hard working society to a entitlement society...

i go grocery shopping once a week at Asian markets these are some of the stuffs i have been hearing/seeing while standing in line at the checkstand. all these were spoken in Cantonese language.

why should i work when the government pays me more than working for minimum wage?

i need to spent the rest of the balances in my food stamp card b/c i have more money coming (holding a can of $75 abalone in his hand)... i'm thinking in my mind you are serious?.. buying a can of $75 abalone with food stamp money? ..

i guarantee you would never have heard/see this kind of BS from Asian immigrants of 1960's.

lunch time!!

 

[aviastar]

I have been thinking over the exact same things this week; especially how differing-often polarizing- viewpoints affect friendships and personal relationships.

I think that part of the problem, in addition to the very astute observations already posted here, is that we assume the 'other side' is going to be nasty or is talking down, so we put up a defensive mechanism that makes us nasty and condescending, which they react to by being...nasty and condescending. It's circular and I think it starts with some of our own insecurities about being judged by others.

Everyone likes to think that they are open minded; but if we truly were we would be able to maintain civil discourse. So, something to strive for in my own personal relationships- true open mindedness and compassion.

I was talking about this with a friend yesterday (we have very similar views to each other, but are part of a larger, very close knit group that has many varying viewpoints), and he gently reminded me that no matter what our politics, the only real truth among friends is love. We all love each other very much and that should inform our relationships more than politics. And in general, we're all fairly well behaved about it, which is probably as result of just liking each other a whole lot, but it's an important part of the equation.

It's a problem, for sure, and one that will probably only be improved by people stepping away from the current climate and actively deciding not to participate, personally. Maybe we can start a movement .
[/quote]

I do have to say, though, the two party system needs to go. Especially since it is becoming much more clear that my generation (those in their mid-twenties to mid-thirties at this point) is being torn in two and forced to choose between following our wallets and voting for the candidate who may represent better fiscal responsibility and following our hearts by voting for the candidate who supports social equality and fairness. It's really getting old.[/quote]

As a side note, I am also in this age bracket and a candidate that was fiscally conservative and socially liberal would have my support wholeheartedly. Those two are going to clash on some issues, but I think it could be worked out, and I also feel left behind by the two party system.

 

[lulu]

There are two parties. Random choice would result in 50/50 support So get more parties. Solves the problem! ha!

Except that I feel like voting for a third party candidate is just throwing away my vote. I have no solutions, but all this ugliness has to stop. One of my best friends, a highly educated woman of refined taste, posted a photo on facebook of Romney being, how shall I say this, sexually abused by Obama.

 

[iLander]

There are two parties. Random choice would result in 50/50 support So get more parties. Solves the problem! ha!

Except that I feel like voting for a third party candidate is just throwing away my vote. I have no solutions, but all this ugliness has to stop. One of my best friends, a highly educated woman of refined taste, posted a photo on facebook of Romney being, how shall I say this, sexually abused by Obama.

Exactly!

Stop the madness!

 

[iLander]

my family immigrated from HK in 1966 and in the past 40 yrs right before my eyes i see that our society have changed from a hard working society to a entitlement society...

i go grocery shopping once a week at Asian markets these are some of the stuffs i have been hearing/seeing while standing in line at the checkstand. all these were spoken in Cantonese language.

why should i work when the government pays me more than working for minimum wage?

i need to spent the rest of the balances in my food stamp card b/c i have more money coming (holding a can of $75 abalone in his hand)... i'm thinking in my mind you are serious?.. buying a can of $75 abalone with food stamp money? ..

i guarantee you would never have heard/see this kind of BS from Asian immigrants of 1960's.

lunch time!!

But that's not the point of this thread, DF The question is why are people getting so angry with people who have opposing views (even if they aren't the food stamp abusers)? Suppose you have a doctor or friend that you respect very much, would you lose respect for him or her if you found out they were from the opposite party? If so, why? How did this happen, that politics colors our personal relationships so much?

 

[iLander]

I have been thinking over the exact same things this week; especially how differing-often polarizing- viewpoints affect friendships and personal relationships.

As a side note, I am also in this age bracket and a candidate that was fiscally conservative and socially liberal would have my support wholeheartedly. Those two are going to clash on some issues, but I think it could be worked out, and I also feel left behind by the two party system.

I would like that too, Aviastar!

 

[icekid]

In my opinion, the polarity comes from the top down and obviously is proliferated within the media, be it social or formal reporting.
The class warfare/ political warfare, in my opinion, has been instigated by our leaders and it just continues to propagate. It is incredibly divisive. I am not that old, but do not remember the country ever feeling so distant from me personally before.

I do not closely align with either party and it has left me feeling frustrated and completely helpless about the path that this country is taken. Entitlement nation. All of it is quite disheartening!