
America, Land of Brutal Binaries - mpweiher
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/09/andrew-sullivan-america-land-of-brutal-binaries.html
======
gallerdude
I've been doing a lot of research on political polarization. I think the story
can be described by two simple statistics:

1\. 68% of Americans say that insulting political opponents is "never fair
game."[1]

2\. "The Facebook audience of congressional candidates engaged with
oppositional posts more than with ones that didn’t take sides"[2]

I think this is just the fundamental struggle of being human - what's fun now
vs. what's good in the long term. Political takedowns, cable news, tweetstorms
- these are all fun. But they are in no way nuanced, and they in no way lead
to good democracy.

At the same time, I don't think political polarization is an existential
threat to democracy. We're _allowed_ to be polarized because we don't have any
huge issues to face. If you look at George W. Bush's approval ratings after
9/11, they skyrocket, because we had a lot more important things to worry
about all of the sudden.

[1] [http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/05/01/few-
american...](http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/05/01/few-americans-
see-nations-political-debate-as-
respectful/ft_18-05-01_politics_mostamericans/) [2] [http://www.people-
press.org/2018/07/18/how-the-facebook-audi...](http://www.people-
press.org/2018/07/18/how-the-facebook-audience-engaged-with-congressional-
posts/)

~~~
rectang
> we don't have any huge issues to face

I couldn't disagree more: there are many huge issues at stake. Abortion, to
cite one which animates both left and right, and which is at stake in the
fight cited at the top of the article over the current Supreme Court
nomination.

We adopt a certain indirection on HN so that we can avoid descending into
political harangues, but outside of this context, people need to fight and
fight hard for what they believe.

~~~
gallerdude
It's semantics for sure, but I think huge issue != controversial issue.
Healthcare or global warming (depending on which side you ask) may be the
biggest existential threats to America itself. But even with those, I don't
see polarization being too much of a road block for us to figure some solution
out.

