4 ms·

If you are interested in potential reasons why Americans (and increasingly more of us non-americans) are so binary in their arguments, I found the following art

If you are interested in potential reasons why Americans (and increasingly more of us non-americans) are so binary in their arguments, I found the following article interesting. Basically it says that America have always had a kind of us vs them mentality and it's now running internally. And this is combined with the certainty one gets with suspicion. If you suspect someone of being an enemy then you know for certain what their reasons are and you do not need to seek further information. Empathy in the wider sense of understanding what another feels goes against this. Conflicts get resolved peacefully when both sides find shared ground. Paranoia and suspicion remove any idea about even trying to find shared ground. We see this from all sides from the liberals and the conservatives. What's ironic is both sides see the other side as doing it not them! Originally from 1964 https://harpers.org/archive/1964/11/the-paranoid-style-in-american-politics/ https://harpers.org/archive/1964/11/the-paranoid-style-in-am... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24964931 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24964931 e.g Applied selectively to 2022: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2022/01/26/how-the-paranoid-style-of-american-politics-is-causing-problems-for-the-biden-agenda/ https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2022/01/26/how-the-paranoi...

sph 4y ago
Thanks, this is good food for thought to educate myself.
cguess 4y ago
> Basically it says that America have always had a kind of us vs them mentality and it's now running internally This has been a thing in the US since before we were the US. The south vs. north and urban vs. rural divide has deeply affected the entire fabric of the US down to the 3/5ths compromise in the Constitution to placate the southern states to ratify the Constitution in the first place. Don't forget that time in the 1860's when literally half the country tried to leave as well. This is nothing new, it's just that the rest of the world can see it in real time nowadays (and much more of them speak English) when that was not possible previously unless you were a real international policy wonk.

sph 4y ago

Thanks, this is good food for thought to educate myself.

cguess 4y ago

> Basically it says that America have always had a kind of us vs them mentality and it's now running internally This has been a thing in the US since before we were the US. The south vs. north and urban vs. rural divide has deeply affected the entire fabric of the US down to the 3/5ths compromise in the Constitution to placate the southern states to ratify the Constitution in the first place. Don't forget that time in the 1860's when literally half the country tried to leave as well. This is nothing new, it's just that the rest of the world can see it in real time nowadays (and much more of them speak English) when that was not possible previously unless you were a real international policy wonk.