Centerfield

Political discourse in the USA has always been rough.
But what has changed recently?
Technology allows more folks to participate and move it around faster which allows it to gain more momentum.
Our attention spans are shorter, and we are less patient.
We resist investing time and energy in the process of delibration, collaboration, compromise.
Centrists and Moderates waste our time with nuances and subtleties.
We want more and more immediate gratification.
Extremists offer simpler solutions.
It has become easier and more effective to fight than negotiate.
Negative campaigning continues because it works.

The article made a couple of nice points. High school debate is a good training ground since you have to argue both sides of the debate issue. The posts I am most impressed by here at centerfield are the ones by folks that have obviously been able to look through the other side of the glass. The other is the anonimity of the internet. That makes us all less careful than we should be when we make our points.

No doubt about the effect of the internet. People say things that they wouldn't have the nerve to say to someone in person. It doesn't take much guts to ream someone out anonymously.

It also reflects a more traditional aspect of American politics--paranoia, ie, the idea that there must be a conspiracy involved against me or some idea that I value. People have invested so much in their own positions--and have so little contact with people that have different positions--that they assume there must be some conspiracy involved. There is a sense that the country is divided into two opposing and incompatible groups--call it red and blue if you want.

It's also true that discourse in American politics has always been rough. It's just now that more people have the ability to get their two cents in.

Finally, I think you have to keep it in perspective. This is a country of 300 million people. Let's face it, the people that write comments to an author or, for that matter, participate in a blog, is rather small. If a writer like Howell gets 20 nasty e-mails, there are probably thousands more that either agree with her or at least aren't going to call her names. There have always been nasty people; unfortunately, the internet encourages those nasty people to make themselves known.

And it's not just politics. Look at sports fans--the almost maniacal way that fans treat their teams and opposing teams.

Church schisms. How many died in the church purges of England alone?

Yeah, about time to post the Hofstadter essay again. The paranoia of politics isn't new--what is new is the immediacy and ease with which it can be manifested. Technology always has a downside to go with the upside.