The Way I See It - Choose your poison
Permalink +Wed, Mar 10, 2010, 4:49 am // Ham Hayes
Our global and national cultures appear to have succumbed to polarization. That is the message from the recent corruption of the climate science discussion. It is also the message coming from seemingly irresolvable discussions occurring in this country ranging from healthcare reform to local paramedic training. We also know the information taught in our schools about our history is subject to revision. And the media has been caught misrepresenting events through factual error or convenient omission of important information. These are all probably signs of polarization and I wonder if it's getting worse. Are facts now obsolete? Have beliefs become the sole foundation of our social, political, scientific and economic endeavors? In paying attention to the media and other leading individuals visible to the public, one might think so.
My definition of polarization is simple. It is a phenomenon where people hold to their beliefs and opinions so strongly they are unwilling or unable to consider alternative information that might alter those beliefs. This phenomenon is widespread but may not be so evident in less complex situations, for instance situations that are largely physical or logical in nature. But increase the complexity by adding emotional and/or spiritual elements to the logical or physical, and then toss in a few hundred million or billion affected people, and the result can be a mess. Or more correctly, the result is a wide range of diverse understanding and opinion that is hard, if not impossible, to resolve. And that messy result is likely to be the same for most any complex topic. Occasionally this could be good news, because somewhere in that diversity there just may be an answer to the question or need. On the other hand, that can mean sifting through an awful lot of discussion to find those answers. Ultimately that sifting process can result in impatience or even fear that if we are too reflective and inclusive we won’t handle a particular threat. We may act too quickly or not quickly enough.
The negative consequences of a strongly polarized society can be severe. Paralysis is one of the biggest threats in a system where dialogue becomes mere shouting. It is doubtful any of our human-designed systems are perfect. They all need revision, correction or updating at some time, kind of like the software in your computer. Even our Constitution, to me one of the most amazing social contracts in history, has been modified numerous times. If the C-words, communication and collaboration, are choked off, there is no process in a democratically based society for making those revisions or changes. Loss of trust in our societal systems and the leaders of those systems is another consequence. I believe we choose our leaders because, at the most basic level, we trust them to keep us safe. That is the basic contract with our government and even business institutions. If leaders fail that trust too often we begin to question the ability of the underlying institutions as well. We question whether those institutions have enough robustness to expose the scoundrels or inept leaders.
The public cannot afford to withdraw. However you want to say it, the price of liberty is vigilance. But not just the vigilance of paying attention to which government official is misbehaving, or what company is in violation of environmental or immigration law. It is not just the vigilance of protecting our borders and our citizens, although these kinds of vigilance are all needed. Another kind of vigilance is required as well. In these times when facts are often slippery, theories are suspect, political claims are one sided, and many methods and motives are corrupt, the individual citizen has the responsibility to make sense of polarized chaos. It is not easy. If it were, we would all see and appreciate that ease. One of the best tools I know to help cut through the chaos is to be fully aware of what is important to you personally. Being grounded in this awareness can be as simple as creating a list of the top ten things that are important to you. You can compare it against input from your friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers, community, businesses, government and the rest of the world, but it needs to be your list. It will give you a quick and easy-to-use reality check when you are bombarded with input. Without the list it is too easy to absorb “what is important” from someone or somewhere else. In that circumstance, you may even feel you have given away your power. And you probably have.
Comments (1)
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Craig Mayberry // Wed, Mar 10, 2010, 6:26 pm
I wonder if we have to separate out average citizens versus the political talking heads that dominate the airways and blog sites (excluding us of course- LOL) versus the politicians themselves. I think the blogs, radio, and tv are becoming more polarized. Much of that may be blogs that have no real check and balance (anonymous commentators and no editors to ensure factual reporting). The think the politicians are getting more polarized. I think that may be caused desperation at the complexity of the problems and they have no real clue how to solve it. There is certainly a lack of vision amongst politicians. In think for the average person they are not that polarized and mostly want solutions and do not care what political party or ideology the solutions come from.
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