11–20 of 171 posts
Talk to people from the other party. But not about politics.
In political science, the phenomenon is called the “devil shift”, coined by Sabatier. Similarly, there is also the “angel shift”: you see people who agree with you as having more virtuous motivations.
My wife, Dr. Juniper Katz, wrote about these shifts in the fracking context: https://www.academia.edu/37275520/The_Space_Between_Demoniza...
According to the article, this phenomenon is most obviously manifested in the humorous expression “own the libs”, and not, say, by shrieking scaremongering about fascism and comparing the other side to the Nazis.
Talk to people from the other party. But not about politics.
I.e. You can no longer mention in-passing that you support certain parties/politicians/political-beliefs.
I want to note that the Russian government also accuses its political opponents of being foreign agents, using the same rhetoric.
Ironically, a lot of the world has seen the USA do this to everyone else for a while too. Too a lesser degree to their anglophone friends of course but the rest of the world is alien and unlikable all the same (with just as little arguments as you see in the political divide). I suppose one could argue that the isolationism/tribalism has simply expanded inwards as 'the rest of the world' has already been put in the '…
Here in NL, a NATO member, it has been primarily the 'left' which has been painting groups with different opinions as 'nazis' 'fascists' etc. Vegans describing other people as murderers.
I blame this culture for our last political murder [0] which already happened in 2002.
This phenomenon is not new, I think it has to do with the dissolution of the USSR and with it, the ultimate defeat of the original ideals of the 'left'.
Talk to people from the other party. But not about politics.
Delete your twitter/facebook/reddit account. Seriously! Go do it now! These sites are built with the goal of pushing people into groups that are always angry at each other. Angry polarized groups spend more time on the site and are easier to sell things to. The only thing ignoring this trash will do is make you a happier, more functional person.
Some institutions being actively soaked in identity politics and other divisive elements:
Higher education
Lower Education
United Nations
Local government bodies
Charity Organizations
Sports
It is very sad that the authors of the article either believed in all these accusations against the Russians or are afraid to say that this is nonsense so that they are not accused of supporting the Russians. I want to note that the Russian government also accuses its political opponents of being foreign agents, using the same rhetoric.
Here's an article examining how it's done in relation to anti-vaxx.