Polarization

From a NY Times article about problems in having the governor of Florida speaking at the Jewish museum.

"“As American domestic politics has become more and more ferociously polarized, and increasingly as people see conservatives not just as different but fundamentally anti-democratic or illiberal or authoritarian or racist, holding together this big tent is really, really difficult,” said Peter Beinart, a writer and editor-at-large for Jewish Currents, a progressive magazine, who also writes for The New York Times."

It's recently come to my attention that polarization is used by Russia and China to attack an open society, where we have freedom of the press, freedom of the internet, and more democratic features. The democratic features might seem pathetic: We need term limits because incumbents gather power to buy votes through slick advertising, and the choices we have are pretty slim and unrevolutionary. 

The conservatives have utilized radio and Faux news to whip up their base. Liz Cheney recently admitted that the right "enables" (kind of taking off some of the moral blame with that word) white supremacists and anti-semitism (Independent).

Obama says in his memoir: "...they look to their traditions and way of life that have been constants in their lives, whether it's their faith, or hunting, or blue-collar work, or more traditional notions of family and community. And when Republicans tell them we Democrats despise these things--or when we give these folks reason to believe that we do--then the best policies in the world don't matter to them." (p. 144-5 Hardback).

The Republicans jumped in line, rude, and blocked a supreme court justice for Obama, swaying the court severely right. Ginsberg wanted to serve until her death instead of retiring with grace, and putting a younger person into the court, and she died while Trump was in office.

The insurrection of January 6th came very close to trying to overturn the presidential election. Five people died, and the "legitimate political discourse" of a death cult doesn't worry about deaths. The only deaths they care about are the pre-born in their pro-birth stances, but that's just a cover for wanting to control women and install their Taliban like policies. 

It's hard not to be provoked into polarization. I can say the right is really provoking it, but the left has to, once again, be the bigger person, and ignore the hysterical carnival barkers of the right. These attention seeking people will spout any lurid "legitimate political discourse" to try and get their way. It is this civility that has the republicans just stepping around the line, and cutting the line. 

In England they line up for the bus. In America they mob the door and try to get on. Americans in England can always get on the bus really quick because of this. That is what the Republicans are doing.

Depending on your political persuasion, the contradictions and ironies will come in different places. For a liberal it's just rude and crass, and who wants that. 

Hidden behind all these shenanigans is the conservative wish for smaller government, government inaction to avoid the contradictions of action and raising hope. A perfect example of unintended consequences is the raise in organized crime following making liquor illegal (Prohibition). The crime of incarcerating many youths for possession of marijuana is being let go, the crime of addiction isn't really a way of solving substance abuse. Decriminalizing substance abuse is hugely effective. But that doesn't make sense to a moralizing conservative, somehow, even though they want less government. It's not true that they don't want less government, they want military and police to increase to enforce the savage inequalities of income disparity, in the world and in their neighborhood.    

The crushed hopes of the right in feeling betrayed by the rhetoric of hope the left pedals, is why they don't want any left wing promises, even if they are shown to be effective. They would rather have no hope at all, and have a wild west kind of justice. People die of cold weather? Well, that's just how things are in Texas. Never mind they could be different. We're still yearning for the open cattle drive, when nobody does that any more. Clint Eastwood is fine with the rough justice of those films he starred in. He was always the quick drawing hero. 

The left will see a willingness to allow people to die, and thus they see a death cult.

The gunman who killed 10 in Buffalo had a gun unloaded into him, but he had armor on, and thus survived. 

The inflection points in the culture war are abortion, gun control, taxes. Discussion of effective policy went out with the polarizations. 

The open society is vulnerable to Russia and China flooding social media with polarizing messages. As Fox News and Rush Limbaugh learned, you can really whip up the base into a frenzy. Of course what that frenzy does is no good--but that's OK for closed societies like Russia and China who control their state media. Nobody in China knows about Tiananmen Square, there is no history of protests and fights for justice, just squashed useless voices that discourages trying to right things. We now watch as China literally locks people into their houses during a pandemic. 

China and Russia have great cultures with glorious histories. They also have ruthless autocratic leaders who when you lift the spin of state controlled media, seem really bad to those who live in an open society. 

The right identifies and yearns for these ruthless powerful leaders, they represent manhood and vigor. They went from hating communism to liking the power.

You can read articles where people adopt the victim position as conservatives, playing on the left's sensitivities, which is the height of hypocrisy for a liberal. The right locates the hypocrisy in the left.

There is no winning in a culture war, a war about different types of personalities. 

The librarians I know had horrible oppressive parents, who completely didn't see their children's needs. As adults they want freedom, wild west justice. 

The conservatives Jewish people in my neighborhood don't want taxes. They don't participate in public education and don't agree to that tax, just want to be left alone. They don't wear masks and accept the will of god. 

Replacement theory is true. The immigrant who lost 5 relatives to Covid sees the dangers of Covid and wants to do something about it, anything. Wear a mask, gets vaccinated. Only the Cubans don't want any government, that's part of their cultural identity, they imagine. Never mind that replacement theory isn't just one sided. 

So if you're a liberal, you don't go to college in Florida or Texas. That creates the further balkanization of America, further polarizing America. 

China and Russia wants what has happened to them, to happen to America. Russia lost its empire, Putin wants it back. China clings to its empire, forces Hong Kong to come in line, and eyes Taiwan. Slowly it modernizes Tibet.

Larger than my political perspective is the desire for democracy, fairness and effective government... but again, it's hard to shuck that liberal perspective, democracy and fairness and effective government from my liberal perspective. I've been radicalized by Trump, and speak up, argue more. Not sure how to get past polarizations. It's a good strategy for a closed society, and the internet age made it possible. They are now openly buying off republicans, not a big deal. 

Add in political apathy. I questioned 10 people in the park, who were on their top 5 for Mayoral primaries? One person named one candidate. One woman made fun of me. I didn't put Eric Adams in my top 5, but he is Mayor now. A former republican cop who nominated his brother for chief of police. Luckily NYC has nepotism rules that prevented him from nominating his brother for chief of police. Government that works.