We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
~President Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address
The Problem of Polarization
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Political polarization reached new extremes with the latest presidential election, but it did not start in 2016. For some 20 years, it's been gaining momentum. An ugly divisiveness has frequented our airwaves, been posted on social media, and even spilled over into everyday interactions.
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Where once views were exchanged easily and openly, today many fear speaking to others with opposite political views. More often than not, people stick to like-minded groups before they venture to share political views fearing potential verbal landmines. Increasingly, partisan rancor is even coming between bonds of friendship and family.
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These days, many no longer believe those who vote for the other major party are just misguided. Instead, they think political adversaries are bad people who hold totally foreign, dangerous views. As conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer once noted, "Conservatives think Liberals are stupid, Liberals think Conservatives are evil!"
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We no longer seem to give others the benefit of the doubt, assuming the worst of intentions and even doubting the basic humanity of those on the opposite side of the partisan divide. Rising levels of anger and rancor threaten to unravel the ties that bind us together as a people. |
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www.braverangels.org The Pew Research Center has measured levels of partisanship in the United States since 1994. They report that the partisan gap in perceptions has recently jumped from 15 to 36 percentage points. Historians have warned that current polarization may have reached levels not seen in the United States since the Civil War.
Learn more at braverangels.org |
Urgent action to depolarize the country and bridge the divide is needed to preserve the health of our democracy. Braver Angels arose to be part of the solution. |