3 ms·
> And it does go back to that "bipolarity" It happens in New Zealand too, and we don’t have bipartisan politics
by robocat 3y ago
> And it does go back to that "bipolarity"
It happens in New Zealand too, and we don’t have bipartisan politics
- Given_47 3y agoInteresting. So I’d imagine it’s less predetermined but people still end up taking a certain side and from there all the same toxicity appears
- mandmandam 3y agoThat is a very fair point - this is quite possibly an issue right across "the West" (which can include NZ in this case). I've noticed it in Ireland, in France, in Germany. Even the Scandos seem not to be immune. I'll have to think about it some more. I will say this though - America is at the vanguard of anti-intellectualism, and has been for quite some time. Mark Twain commented on it frequently, for example. And even so, the last couple decades have seen the dismissal of deep / nuanced thinking grow far worse, even as "bipartisanship" also rapidly got bad enough to bring us a lot closer to civil war than I expected in the 90s. One last point - it's weird that this would happen even as everyone gets nerdier. People all use computers, watch LOTR and Harry Potter, cosplaying and conventions are all normalized... It's not what I'd have expected.
- HKH2 3y agoI could be wrong, but Americans seem very interested in keeping up appearances. People have freedom of speech, but do they really try to say what they want to say and risk looking like a bumbling idiot? Pioneering in one's mind and creating nuance is not easy and cannot be prepackaged for the masses, so how can it compete in a materialistic society?
- pphysch 3y agoPolarization is everywhere (in AUS/NZ mainly due to being part of Anglosphere yet proximal to China), but in America it is on a totally different level than NZ. I occasionally will see nuanced, heterodox comments from AUS/NZ politicians that would not be tolerated in Washington.