Its not caused by just one thing, no, but there is one factor (which is a vitally important piece of the jigsaw) that ppl tend to ignore. https://twitter.com/clairlemon/status/1274965499789508609

This https://mobile.twitter.com/imkahloon/status/1225884047647412225

‘The lesson for politics and culture is pretty clear…..Mixed company moderates; like-minded company polarises. Heterogenous communities restrain group excesses; homogenous communities march towards the extremes.’

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0547237723/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_TOg8EbT1AB0HH

This is why the concept of ‘viewpoint diversity’ promoted by Jon Haidt & others is so important.

A huge factor underpinning what is going on in America in a structural sense *in my opinion* is what Bill Bishop (over a decade ago!) referred to as the ‘Big Sort.’

I wrote a blog about the version of this phenomenon here https://link.medium.com/7zXhTdDkw7 

Patrick Deneen has written eloquently about this phenomenon in ‘Why Liberalism Failed’ and acknowledges guys like Christopher Lasch and Robert Reich who spotted this emerging trend unfolding way back in the 90s.

If everyone sorts themselves into enclaves in which they are surrounded by ppl who have the same views as each other & same politics then you have de facto segregation on ideological grounds & rocket fuel for rise of political sectarianism and the growth of ideological prejudice.

Remember Bill Bishop’s warning: ‘The lesson for politics and culture is pretty clear…..Mixed company moderates; like-minded company polarises. Heterogenous communities restrain group excesses; homogenous communities march towards the extremes.’

Pretty prophetic.

We need ‘contact theory’ but for political viewpoints. Ppl need to be exposed to a greater variety of different viewpoints. Its political/ideological homogeneity that leads to extremism. Which is why I believe social media is a good thing, it exposes ppl to different views.

Ppl talk as if social media is part of the problem. Its actually part of the solution. Its one of the few ‘places’ that ppl can ‘go’ where they can be exposed to a variety of different views on a variety of different topics. Thats very intellectually healthy.

Not that Im suggesting that this can serve as a substitute for actual human contact with a variety of different ppl with a variety viewpoints in real life but its better than nothing. Anything has to be better than this:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/13/opinion/hate-politics.html

Yes, you read that correctly. 20% of Democrats and 16% of Republicans think it would be better if a large chunk of the opposing side dropped dead. This is the kind of sentiment you would expect in a place like Northern Ireland in the 1980s or something like that.

America has sleep-walked into this situation, in large part, it is my contention, bc of segregation, but not racial this time so much as political/ideological and not imposed from above but chosen from below.

The UK is slowly moving in the same direction.

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