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Shouting Without Listening
How Identity Politics is Ruining Discourse — and Democracy
The only way to maintain a democratic and peaceful society is to preserve our ability to effectively communicate. And that requires the willingness (and discipline) to stay humble, actively listen, and engage in good-faith conversations.
Unfortunately, thanks to increased political extremism (on all sides), the future doesn’t look bright.
While it’s far from the only culprit, a major reason why politics has gotten more polarized and extreme is that we identify with our own niche tribes — and we stay there!
Accordingly, we live within our own information silos. And see those with whom we disagree as “the other” or (worse) “the enemy.”
One of the developments pushing polarization is identity politics.
And here’s just one example…
The other day, I watched an interesting Munk debate on the credibility of mainstream media. The discussion centered on the following proposition:
Be it resolved, don’t trust mainstream media.
The debate featured Malcolm Gladwell, Michelle Goldberg, Douglas Murray, and Matt Taibbi. Murray and Taibbi took the affirmative position, whereas Goldberg…
