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Thread: Polarization in America - who is to blame?

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    Polarization in America - who is to blame?



    How divided are we?

    For some, America is indeed a polarized nation, perhaps more so today than at any time in living memory.

    ....

    As summed up by the distinguished social scientist who writes humor columns under the name of Dave Barry, residents of
    Red states are “ignorant racist fascist knuckle-dragging NASCAR-obsessed cousin-marrying road-kill-eating tobacco-juice-dribbling gun-fondling religious fanatic rednecks,” while Blue-state residents are “godless unpatriotic pierced-nose Volvo-driving France-loving leftwing Communist latte-sucking tofu-chomping holistic-wacko neurotic vegan weenie perverts.”

    ....

    The reasons for the widening fissures in Congress are not far to seek. Each of the political parties was once a coalition of dissimilar forces: liberal Northern Democrats and conservative Southern Democrats, liberal coastal Republicans and conservative Midwestern Republicans. No longer; the realignments of the South (now overwhelmingly Republican) and of New England (now strongly Democratic) have all but eliminated legislators who deviate from the party's leadership. Conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans are endangered species now approaching extinction. At the same time, the ideological gap between the parties is growing: if there was once a large overlap between Democrats and Republicans—remember “Tweedledum and Tweedledee”?—today that congruence has almost disappeared. By the late 1990's, virtually every Democrat was more liberal than virtually every Republican.

    The result has been not only intense partisanship but a sharp rise in congressional incivility. In 1995, a Republican-controlled Senate passed a budget that President Clinton proceeded to veto; in the loggerhead that followed, many federal agencies shut down (in a move that backfired on the Republicans). Congressional debates have seen an increase not only in heated exchanges but in the number of times a representative's words are either ruled out of order or “taken down” (that is, written by the clerk and then read aloud, with the offending member being asked if he or she wishes to withdraw them).

    ....

    Next, the mass media. Not only are they themselves increasingly polarized, but consumers are well aware of it and act on that awareness. Fewer people now subscribe to newspapers or watch the network evening news.

    ....

    In part, media bias feeds into, and off, an increase in business competition. In the 1950's, television news amounted to a brief 30-minute interlude in the day's programming, and not a very profitable one at that

    ....

    The news we get is not only more omnipresent, it is also more competitive and hence often more adversarial. When there were only three television networks, and radio stations were forbidden by the fairness doctrine from broadcasting controversial views, the media gravitated toward the middle of the ideological spectrum, where the large markets could be found. But now that technology has created cable news and the Internet, and now that the fairness doctrine has by and large been repealed, many media outlets find their markets at the ideological extremes.

    ....

    As one journalist has remarked about the change in his profession, “We don't deal in facts [any longer], but in attributed opinions.” Or, these days, in unattributed opinions. And those opinions are more intensely rivalrous than was once the case.

    https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/how-divided-are-we/


    That story was posted in February of 2006.

    Now today:

    U.S. Political System Is Structured to Divide

    Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter is basically saying that Congress has been moribund for 20 years. It no longer cares about the pressing issues of the nation, it is just caught up in partisan opposition for its own sake.
    https://www.xumo.tv/video/XM0V66HXDT...n-open-economy


    I think that the change in the media's reporting of the news is a reflection of the political reality in Congress which has become so polarized that there was no middle position possible, so sides had to be taken in order to cater to an increasingly divided public.
    Last edited by Dr. Who; 09-25-2017 at 10:28 PM.
    In quoting my post, you affirm and agree that you have not been goaded, provoked, emotionally manipulated or otherwise coerced into responding.



    "The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.”
    Mahatma Gandhi

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    Watching the Vietnam War on PBS, we were pretty divided back then! But I'd guess that we're very close to that level again. Downright hatred of each other!

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    Quote Originally Posted by NapRover View Post
    Watching the Vietnam War on PBS, we were pretty divided back then! But I'd guess that we're very close to that level again. Downright hatred of each other!
    It's kind of crazy if you think about it. People are not really all that far apart, but they are led to believe that they are and perception is everything. No one but the politicians and the media are benefitting from this polarization. It's like that old saying about dividing and conquering. I think it's really a scam to delude the people and distract them from the fact that the government (and that includes all elected reps) is catering to everyone but the people. What better way than to create a Hatfields vs McCoys feud?
    In quoting my post, you affirm and agree that you have not been goaded, provoked, emotionally manipulated or otherwise coerced into responding.



    "The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.”
    Mahatma Gandhi

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Who View Post
    It's kind of crazy if you think about it. People are not really all that far apart, but they are led to believe that they are and perception is everything. No one but the politicians and the media are benefitting from this polarization. It's like that old saying about dividing and conquering. I think it's really a scam to delude the people and distract them from the fact that the government (and that includes all elected reps) is catering to everyone but the people. What better way than to create a Hatfields vs McCoys feud?
    A political tactic as old as politics, keep the people infighting and they will be to busy to focus on the real cause!
    There is no God but Resister and Refugee is his messenger’.

    Book of Democrat Things, Chapter 1:1






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    Quote Originally Posted by resister View Post
    A political tactic as old as politics, keep the people infighting and they will be to busy to focus on the real cause!
    Absolutely, which is why all of the adversarial discussion on this forum is so perplexing. If the people who visit this forum are aware that they are deliberately being played, why pander to the manipulators? It doesn't mean that we won't disagree, but the rhetoric could definitely be dialed down along with the portrayal of each other as evil.
    In quoting my post, you affirm and agree that you have not been goaded, provoked, emotionally manipulated or otherwise coerced into responding.



    "The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.”
    Mahatma Gandhi

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Who View Post
    Absolutely, which is why all of the adversarial discussion on this forum is so perplexing. If the people who visit this forum are aware that they are deliberately being played, why pander to the manipulators? It doesn't mean that we won't disagree, but the rhetoric could definitely be dialed down along with the portrayal of each other as evil.
    Agreed, both sides are played against the middle!

    As those that manipulate the strings, laugh from afar.
    There is no God but Resister and Refugee is his messenger’.

    Book of Democrat Things, Chapter 1:1






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    I blame the $#@!s. Not just the gay ones either.

    Sent from my evil cell phone.
    "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

    Ephesians 6:12

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cthulhu View Post
    I blame the $#@!s. Not just the gay ones either.

    Sent from my evil cell phone.
    What do cigarettes or a bundle of kindling have to do with anything? I was all happy and gay until my $#@!gs got wet!
    There is no God but Resister and Refugee is his messenger’.

    Book of Democrat Things, Chapter 1:1






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    Granny says prob'ly dem folks at Kodak...

    ... dey the ones dat invented dat Polaroid camera.

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    We're supposed to be divided, we're all different, only liberal egalitarians think otherwise. I was reading somewhere the other day that reducing us all to be one and the same is a basic precondition for introducing communism.
    Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire. ― Gustav Mahler

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