USA Polarization

[StephenK]

As a non American, I'd like some insight into this. From what I can discern through the media, your society is more polarized now than it has been in a long, long time. That being said, will this polarization just 'disappear' in coming years, or will it fester and grow, regardless of who wins the current election? How do you move forward in a climate like this? Has the damage already been done? 

[Leo Gura]

The polarization is clearly real and here to stay for some time.

We are going through an Orange/Green transition which will take some 20 to 50 years, probably. All the polarization is a function of that. People are being forced to choose whether their loyalty is to Orange or Green. Since much of the population is still Blue/Orange, they resist Green.

[Lyubov]

Stage blue is much more strategically dispersed across the country so it has way more representation with how states are set up. All these damn hipsters in expensive ass Cali and NY need to relocate to Texas, Geroriga and NC faster.

[Nahm]

@StephenK

Careful attributing polarization to a society. If it is at all, it is of the individuation and projected onto a collective, and thus perpetuated precisely as some individuations desire it to be. This to this, listen through the words, for the message.

[Yarco]

As another non-American watching on the sidelines, I'm not sure if I see a peaceful way out.

Whether Trump wins or loses, people are gonna have to reconcile that 70 million people in their country still think he's the best guy for the job.

Those people don't just disappear into the shadows for 4 years if he loses. This isn't just a president thing. Half the population has a fundamentally different viewpoint on most issues. Abortion, climate change, guns, police, immigration. You have to figure out a way to live with them.

Whether it's even possible to have a dialogue, or if that is gonna split the country in half with civil war or what, idk. I dunno how you resolve half the country wanting a system like Northern Europe and half wanting a system closer to the Middle East.

The media vilifies and dismisses Trump supporters like they're a small minority. But the election is showing that they make up nearly half of your country, and have actually grown in numbers since last election. There is a huge disconnect between the people in a few big cities creating the news and television shows and social media platforms, and the rest of the country.

Listening to Democrat friends talk, they literally don't understand how this is possible. They can't fathom how Trump is polling so close with all the stuff he's done that they interpret as evil. More people seem to encapsulated in their own news bubble than ever. To the point that Democrats and Republicans are literally seeing reality differently. I don't know how you get people to willingly break that veil of illusion en masse, particularly when talking heads on both sides are propping it up.

[Nahm]

@Yarco

The sides are the illusion. 

Game creators & designers would make good politicians, in their all too rare ability to create inclusively via cross-generation, cross-platformIng, and backward compatibility. In all fairness though, their financial incentive is Inherently based on  inclusiveness. If you’re in the company, the synergy of this goal behooves you. They do have that distinct advantage however, in that no one seems to be claiming the money in their games is real. 

[seeking_brilliance]

'reality' is definitely very fluid in America right now. 

[Frylock]

On 11/4/2020 at 8:22 AM, Leo Gura said:

The polarization is clearly real and here to stay for some time.

We are going through an Orange/Green transition which will take some 20 to 50 years, probably. All the polarization is a function of that. People are being forced to choose whether their loyalty is to Orange or Green. Since much of the population is still Blue/Orange, they resist Green.

This polarization began to grow in the 80s and 90s, and really started to amplify heavily in the last couple of decades. Hopefully we don't have much longer of this crap, but we probably have another couple of decaded at least.

[Onecirrus]

We will move forward through decisive political action otherwise known as "Vote blue no matter who."

I also don't think the republican party will be willing to bet on another trump for sometime to come. The next republican will at least be stage orange rather than red I'd hope.

[Yog]

For some time it will fester and grow.

We got a new player on the stage, its stage green. Its important to note that is also very novel and juvenile. It was baby in the 80s now its teen.

The old players will resist all green ideas, especially funky green ideas and will force green to painfully grow up and crystallize and be able to give positive practical examples, they will do this by criticizing, resisting and growing themselves in turn, they are not moving one inch and will grow in size, in spot.

In this sense, green is the hero, dying repeatedly at the dragon-boss atm, And the blue/orange are the old and decrepit king that once was all wise, but now is part wise and part corrupted, mad and resistant to change. The hero needs to bring form out of chaos and and bring it in front of the old king, so its light can be undeniable. Its important that Theoden does not die in the process too.

There are also very important generational factors that go into the mix.

The other alternative is well known, its war and than we fall back quite a bit before we can rise back.

 

 

Edited November 6, 2020 by Yog

[DocWatts]

About %65 - 70 percent of eligible Voters participated in the most recent election (the highest turnout in decades). Slightly less than half of them supported Trump.

So if we extrapolate that to the rest of the country, we can conservatively say that roughly a third of the country is at level of development where they find Trump's authoritarianism and white supremacy appealing. 

So even if they're not a majority, a third of the country with that sort of mindset and worldview is enough to destabilize the country, and at the very least cause widespread and long lasting Civil Unrest (even if it doesn't spiral into Civil War).

To say that America is a fractured and fragmented society is undeniable at this point. How we begin to heal these divisions over a 20 or 50 year time span, well that's a much bigger question that I don't have the answer to.

[ivory]

We easily accept what we find familiar, convenient, and beneficial. As a divided nation it's very difficult to make lasting change because there's so much opposition. Almost every policy push-back and obstacles and that's why nothing gets done. I think what we need is someone like Bernie who's willing to push the progressive agenda to the max in the shortest time possible. For that to happen we'd need a Democrat controlled House and Senate. Once people see that universal healthcare, affordable education, a living wage are all beneficial people will shut their mouths and we can begin to move forward as a nation. Once you have a taste of the good life you can't go back to a lower quality of life.

Alternatively, we're gonna have to wait for Millennials and GenZ-ers to mature, vote, and take office. One of the problems we have with these generations is that they are lazy and don't vote. But, they will grow out of that. And, when they do stage blue/orange will be on its way out.

[WisdomSeeker]

On 11/4/2020 at 9:22 AM, Leo Gura said:

The polarization is clearly real and here to stay for some time.

We are going through an Orange/Green transition which will take some 20 to 50 years, probably. All the polarization is a function of that. People are being forced to choose whether their loyalty is to Orange or Green. Since much of the population is still Blue/Orange, they resist Green.

@Leo Gura would you argue some parts of the world have already transitioned to Green i.e. Scandanavian countries? 

[ArchangelG]

17 hours ago, WisdomSeeker said:

@Leo Gura would you argue some parts of the world have already transitioned to Green i.e. Scandanavian countries? 

No, there's a big right wing conservative shift coming in Sweden in the 2020s, which is a good thing. 

We have toxic green all over the place(school, media, government) and they have ignored so many practical issues for so long and instead relied on idealism.