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I worked in the states (Michigan) briefly in 2010, and I was shocked at the state of discourse among regular folks back then. As someone from outside the US pol
by switchbak 7y ago
I worked in the states (Michigan) briefly in 2010, and I was shocked at the state of discourse among regular folks back then. As someone from outside the US political system, I was amazed at the simmering discontent (anecdotal experience, of course) - and even got caught in the crossfire a couple times myself.
That simmer is now boiling over (certainly in some circles), and the polarization/black and white thinking appears to be going global. It's a tough time to try to hold nuance and accommodate ambiguity. Especially when those yelling the loudest seem to be rewarded by our dysfunctional controversy-chasing media outlets.
There's certainly been times in history where discourse has been at similar levels, but I think we're going to need some strong course corrections here. Not sure how that's going to work, given the financial incentives to keep people angry at each other.