It is because people Don't want to work for them selves . To justify that , they come up with events of injustice [their pov] in other spaces , very little to with them. They find resonance with similar people and the sound gets louder. Media and other intellectual vultures, who feed on this tries to tap it for their self benefit...

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I recently read a book by Ezra Klein titled "Why We're Polarized."



And when I say "we" I am mainly referring the the USA, but if I put that in my thread title there are certain people that will get mad.

In this book, Klein breaks down not only the history of political polarization but also the factors that have led to increased polarization in modern times. The American population has always been polarized around specific issues like slavery, or civil rights for black people.

But nowadays people pretty much conform to the halo effect. Where if someone is anti-abortion you can pretty much guess their views on global warming. People are forced to pick a team and fight for all the issues that team supports.

It hasn't always been like this... When Medicare was passed in 1966 it received largely bipartisan support. Even though by today's standards it would be seen as a "radical leftist" program.

Let's compare that with Obamacare, which was passed in 2010 despite receiving almost no support from the Republicans. It was just a nationalization of Rebublican Mit Romney's health care plan in Massachusetts. It was a pro business, pro-corporate program that sought to increase coverage while still allowing insurance companies to stay in the game.

Yet the right wing branded Obama as a socialist.

If you are interested in actual economics then I suggest you read the works of Nobel prize winning economist Paul Krugman, who has numerous books as well as online lectures.

If you look at income inequality over the last hundred years you can see that it directly correlates with political polarization.



As fewer people concentrate more of the wealth then they are able to manipulate the politics of the country. During the gilded age, they were able to do it because there was virtually no government regulation on industry. After the New Deal various social programs spread the wealth out and gave (mostly white people) affordable housing and education. Then came the Reagan era. And you can see how inequality grew once again. (Disproportionately among minorities.) The war on drugs also had a huge effect on that.

Now, they are able to dominate the political system by using social issues to manipulate working class uneducated whites into voting against their economic interests. They also maintain their power through disenfranchisement, gerrymandering, and the continuations of silly ideas like the Electoral college and the fact that Wyoming gets as many senators as California.

But I believe that there is an even more nefarious actor at work here. And that is the media.

In the 50s and 60s there were 3 networks that pretty much had the same news. The media was a trusted organization and relatively non-biased.

Now today you can still see relatively non biased news if you go to the BBC or CBC, or NPR in America. But people generally find those boring.

Roger Ailes once said that "People don't want to be informed. They want to feel informed." In other words, they want their own ideas shouted back to them.

This started with FOX news in the mid 90s, but it was really after the 2003 invasion of Iraq that FOX took on the role of the Republican Party Propaganda machine. And today, even though they are fighting against One America News Network as Trump's official ass kisser.... the network that the majority of Americans get their news from is a Trump lap dog. If you feel like that's an overestimation, then please just youtube the way that FOX has changed their "news" to suit Trump's COVID views.

So in your opinion... why are we so polarized now?

Is it the media?

Is it due to rising inequality?

Is it social media?

Or is it something else?