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Misses the point of why polarization is happening. Part of it is media driven, but a large part is because there are different classes of people with different

Misses the point of why polarization is happening. Part of it is media driven, but a large part is because there are different classes of people with different material interests. You can't get a wolf and a lamb to debate and come to a mutual conclusion where the wolf eats the lamb. It's crazy. When you debate rich people paying higher taxes or giving up control of companies vs the laborers that work for them that want more healthcare or whatnot, they'll each make their separate claim on resources -- money or labor. It's an irreconcilable conflict. Debate only works when both sides have an interest in finding some mutual agreement that works for them, not when resources are in conflict.

DoofusOfDeath 6y ago
> Debate only works when both sides have an interest in finding some mutual agreement that works for them, not when resources are in conflict. I'm aware of two main reasons for engaging in debate: (1) So the participants can come to an agreement, or at least truly understand each other's reasons. (2) If an audience can observe the debate, use the debate as a kind of form of theater, to present each side's most compelling arguments in an engaging manner. IMHO a site like Ceasefire could be useful for either of those goals, assuming other issues don't bog it down.
nicoburns 6y ago
This assumes that people are purely self-interested. But people generally do care about the well-being of others, and are much more inclined to do so when they understand that persons perspective.
notJim 6y ago
The thing is that the number of people who strictly belong to the capitalist class who participate in this app will be vanishingly small, because most of those people are too busy cashing checks to talk with us proles. Really all you need to do is convince the working class on this app to seize the ol' means, since it's so much larger. Of course, the existence of the petit bourgeois (and the fact that that group would be the main audience for this app) complicates all this.

DoofusOfDeath 6y ago

> Debate only works when both sides have an interest in finding some mutual agreement that works for them, not when resources are in conflict. I'm aware of two main reasons for engaging in debate: (1) So the participants can come to an agreement, or at least truly understand each other's reasons. (2) If an audience can observe the debate, use the debate as a kind of form of theater, to present each side's most compelling arguments in an engaging manner. IMHO a site like Ceasefire could be useful for either of those goals, assuming other issues don't bog it down.

nicoburns 6y ago

This assumes that people are purely self-interested. But people generally do care about the well-being of others, and are much more inclined to do so when they understand that persons perspective.

notJim 6y ago

The thing is that the number of people who strictly belong to the capitalist class who participate in this app will be vanishingly small, because most of those people are too busy cashing checks to talk with us proles. Really all you need to do is convince the working class on this app to seize the ol' means, since it's so much larger. Of course, the existence of the petit bourgeois (and the fact that that group would be the main audience for this app) complicates all this.