A few months, and a number of other tariff wars, lawsuits and protests in the past, I requested readers for his or her ideas in regards to the polarization rife in society in the present day, and whether or not they had discovered a means ahead in their very own lives or had given up.
Lots of you shared considerate responses, questioning talk extra successfully or be open to different viewpoints whereas preserving boundaries intact. There was extra hope than despair.
This cross-section of responses is a part of the continued Between Us undertaking, which examines the components that contribute to polarization and forestall good governance, good citizenship and good relationships — and presents options. Some submissions have been calmly edited for size and readability.
— Melissa Davis, deputy opinion editor
Assist!
I’m collaborative by nature, inclined to hunt widespread floor in each interplay. However the polarization period is testing that spirit.
A couple of years in the past, I used to be paired in an area golf event with a person whose bag sported a “(Expletive) Biden” sticker. Though stunned as a supporter of President Joe Biden, I nonetheless loved enjoying with him, in the way in which golfers sometimes discover camaraderie on the course.
However … our conversations by no means touched on politics, which raises to me an enormous query: How does one productively talk about political variations, even (possibly particularly) with individuals with whom we’d in any other case be pleasant?
This got here up once more in a current chat with a very good pal from highschool. We hadn’t spoken in a long time, and actually loved catching up. Nevertheless, when he spoke of “Trump Derangement Syndrome” and derided mentions of “the oppressor class” in his son’s education, I quietly listened and moved on to different subjects.
Another associates and kin are Trump supporters; I’m decidedly not. We get alongside effective in different contexts, however I haven’t mentioned politics with any of them lately. I’m genuinely interested in their views, and wish to share mine. But I can’t deliver myself to provoke conversations alongside these strains, for concern of devolving into acrimony and raised blood pressures, at a time when civic discourse is simply too usually framed as black-and-white/good vs. evil, ignoring nuances and shades of grey the place (I imagine) the “fact” usually resides.
My unfavorable views of Trump and MAGA, and notably the threats to democracy, are impossible to alter. However I’m open to better mutual understanding with those that imagine otherwise. I simply don’t know get began. Assist!
— Mark Ohrenschall, Kenmore
Use democracy improvements
Around the globe, democracy improvements have made problem-solving throughout variations potential, and they’re increasing extra quickly than ever. Many people in the present day are doing the arduous work of traversing variations to seek out widespread floor, however they shouldn’t need to do it alone. We are able to institutionalize democracy improvements to scale their affect on our fractured political atmosphere.
Contemplate the residents’ meeting, the place a authorities convenes a random, consultant group of residents to deliberate on a troublesome difficulty, then formally responds to — and infrequently implements — the meeting’s suggestions. Greater than 700 residents’ assemblies have taken place in Europe, Canada, Australia, Latin America and now within the U.S.
Or contemplate It’s Your America, a gamified three-hour workshop the place contributors wrestle with a tricky difficulty and work collectively in small, ideologically numerous teams to craft options which have broad help. The conversations on this setting are wildly extra considerate and productive than at your typical metropolis council assembly or city corridor.
Some cities have jettisoned the previous “three minutes on the mic” public assembly, which set discussions as much as be (usually needlessly) adversarial in favor of deliberative public conferences, the place group members and authorities officers can talk and collaborate.
These improvements all have just a few issues in widespread. First, they’re deliberations, not debates. In a debate, somebody wins and somebody loses. In a deliberation, contributors work collectively towards a shared purpose, figuring out that they won’t agree on all the pieces. Second, they’re facilitated. Critically, individuals in these settings take part as people, not as politicized social media avatars. Lastly, they deal with a specific subject, which retains the dialog solutions-oriented. (Extra data: ourcivicgenius.org, a undertaking of the Nationwide Civic League)
— Jillian Youngblood, Redmond
Thrilling, miserable, alarming
At age 88, it positive is tempting to “throw within the towel.” From Truman vs. Dewey to Trump vs. Harris, I’ve been a political junkie. The evolution of occasions in our fraying democracy has been thrilling at instances, miserable at many others and admittedly, very alarming at current. The last decade of the ’60s, as chaotic because it was, held nice promise for our nation. That promise has evaporated, and now half of the nation is hissing on the different half. I’ve 5 kids, 11 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. Though I contemplate myself fair-minded, I’ve handed on to them my core values … lots of which I really feel are nonnegotiable.
I’m a bleeding-heart liberal/progressive and have discovered that when confronted with MAGA/conservative positions, listening is essential and making lodging if potential. I’m skeptical that our divide will dissolve any time quickly. There appears to be a palpable conceitedness on either side that avers, “we’re proper, and righteously so, and you might be incorrect, desperately so!” In any occasion, I don’t take as a right my good luck to stay on this blue enclave. I suppose as all of us grasp for solutions, we might not get an answer, however on the very least, we should stay civil to at least one one other.
Henry Thompson, Seattle
Extra conversations
I’ve simply retired from instructing journalism and communication at Seattle Pacific College. Earlier than that, I used to be a journalist for KING-TV.
My largest drawback now’s that it’s arduous to develop (or blow up) my bubble. I stay in Seattle, attend a Presbyterian church that leans extra liberal, often go to City Corridor lectures, Seattle Arts & Lectures occasions, bookstore appearances. I volunteer at a device library and usually give to causes and candidates backed by Democrats. My closest associates are very similar to me: 60+, white, Christian-but-not-nationalist. Due to my hyperlinks to campuses, I’ve some younger associates who’re individuals of coloration, and I be taught from them every day.
For a while, I subscribed to The Wall Avenue Journal, so I used to be compelled to learn its op-ed web page. It was often considerate and positively not my political leaning. However I’m not often in a spot for dialog with those that voted for President Donald Trump. I might like to do extra to need to hear extra — to place myself in more durable locations that problem me.
Peg Achterman, Seattle
Totally different treads, totally different of us
The Seattle Occasions’ current name for civility is a pleasant gesture, however it’s too little, too late for Trump’s America. We granted him this platform — first by our perception in civility, then our hope for it and now our determined cry for it. As we teeter on the sting of a slope greased by billionaires, tech bros, fanatics and an entitled, informal apathy, our right-wing foot willingly begs for the descent whereas the left-wing foot hopes its computer-designed, non-GMO, vegan treads will grip simply lengthy sufficient for a miracle. As if a tectonic shift might unexpectedly erupt and upend that journey into the abyss. No such miracle is probably going.
Michael Monteleone, Seattle
Cool the flames, then work it off
These days, I’ve come to consider myself as a type of human fireplace extinguisher; consistently pushing again towards extremes, making an attempt to douse the flames of shock whereas looking for slivers of widespread floor. Whether or not it’s Israel and Gaza, or our personal nationwide and native divides, I discover myself standing within the center, feeling the warmth from each facet.
Pals, classmates, household, individuals I like maintain robust and opposing views. The depth is in all places.
So what helps? I attempt to hear with out interrupting, to ask questions that make clear slightly than problem. I search for small openings for empathy. I deal with what we share, not what separates us. And afterward, I run or train another means — that’s how I course of the anger, confusion or harm that lingers.
I write letters to editors, ship op-eds and attain out on to leaders with concepts or questions. I volunteer in my group, the place widespread function nonetheless feels potential and dialog can move with out flaring up.
I acquire tales that spark hope, like Utah’s Republican governor describing on “60 Minutes” how he collaborates with Democrats to get issues completed.
I remind myself that others earlier than us have endured darker instances. As “Ethics of Our Fathers,” a compilation of Jewish moral teachings, states: “It’s not your responsibility to complete the work, however neither are you free to desist from it.”
My father, father-in-law, uncles and cousins fought to protect our democracy. My responsibility now’s to maintain it alive by cooling the flames, not feeding them.
Michael B. Goldenkranz, Seattle
Maintain it native
Hyperlocal journalism affords an antidote to polarization. Whereas nationwide information algorithms feed us rage and division, neighborhood information brings us again to shared actuality.
In Fremont, we don’t debate summary tradition wars, we talk about whether or not the roads ought to shut for bus line upgrades, help native companies, and promote civic occasion info. These aren’t pink or blue points. They’re neighbor points.
After I launched fremontneighbor.com, I noticed firsthand how the lack of native information creates a vacuum. With out trusted, shared details about our fast group, neighbors drift towards nationwide outrage cycles that don’t have anything to do with our every day lives.
Hyperlocal journalism does three issues that counter polarization:
First, it forces us to see one another as entire individuals, not labels. After I cowl the Fremont Neighborhood Council or profile native companies, readers encounter their precise neighbors: complicated people with legitimate considerations, not strawmen from social media.
Second, it creates shared stakes. All of us care about the identical potholes, parks, and faculty zones. These widespread considerations remind us we’re on this collectively, even once we disagree about state or nationwide politics.
Third, it calls for accountability and accuracy at a scale the place belief may be rebuilt. Nationwide media feels distant and suspect. However native journalism? Folks know if I get it incorrect. They see me on the Fremont Market or strolling on Stone Means. That proximity breeds accountability.
I don’t declare hyperlocal information will resolve all our divisions. However in an period the place we will’t agree on primary information, our personal blocks provide the widespread floor we desperately want…verifiable, related, and shared.
Alyson “Aly” Teeter, founder & editor
Despair? By no means
Polarization? Sure. Despair? By no means. Dependable polling reveals repeatedly that the majority People occupy the broad center, agreeing on many social and financial points. Polarization is pushed by the small, vocal minorities (lower than 10%) on every finish of the political spectrum whose opinions are amplified by media, each mainstream and social (controversy sells!). They don’t communicate for us.
The reply is twofold. First, devour a large and various food plan of knowledge. Blogs and Substack posts are effective, however hunt down and skim not simply individuals you agree with but additionally some you don’t agree with. Embrace many sources which might be edited and vetted (e.g., newspapers, magazines). Do you want The New York Occasions? Additionally learn The Wall Avenue Journal. Do you favor conservative speak radio? Make some extent of listening to NPR and studying The Atlantic.
The second a part of the answer is to ask questions and hear. Affirmation bias is a powerful human tendency. We hunt down and heed info that helps our current beliefs. Search for alternatives to interact with these whose opinions differ. Quite than lead together with your opinion, ask why they imagine as they do. Ask how they arrived at their conclusions. Ask in the event that they see any different approaches. There are clever, caring individuals on either side of any complicated drawback. Discovering options – and dialing again the enmity- requires that we hear and be taught from one another.
It’s trendy as of late to say that we haven’t been this polarized for the reason that 1850s, but it surely’s not true. Anybody who is aware of in regards to the New Deal, anticommunism, the civil rights motion, and the Vietnam Conflict is aware of that, of their day, they had been considered as struggles for the survival of our nice American experiment. We survived these battles, and we’ll survive in the present day’s.
Ross Elkin, Seattle
This undertaking is funded partly by The Poynter Institute as a part of its Beat Academy for reaching polarized audiences.
