Why are US culture and politics so polarized?

[HomeschoolDad]

https://www.quora.com/Why-are-U-S-politics-and-culture-so-polarized

One of the great pleasures of my life is reading Quora. This website helps make sense out of the world in a way that I’ve never seen in any other website. It is basically a crowd-sourced forum for explaining anything you could possibly imagine.

This article is golden. If you had to sum up the history of the period 1960-1980 on four pages, this would pretty well do it. But I think what is so telling, is that the author brings up the birth control pill almost right off the bat. The effect of “the pill”, as well as other reliable, efficient, and easily and unobtrusively used methods of birth control upon our entire society and economy is incalculable. Put another way, try to imagine American society without it.

This is not advocacy of contraception — I am the last person you would ever meet, who would sing the praises of artificial birth control, the sin that probably threatens to separate more people from the grace of God than any other sin (yes, yes, I know, given sufficient reflection and full consent of the will…) — and no amount of temporal good or advantage can ever make it “okay”. I just want to highlight how birth control has made our society, and all of us, what we are. Paul VI spoke very knowingly of how profound its effect would be.

Very good history lesson. Enjoy reading.

 

[Beryllos]

I read the whole thing and I don’t think she answered the title question.

 

[Shakuhachi]

My own theory about OP is that we are lazy and do not have the patience and now perhaps even the ability to see the necessary nuances of issues. It all has to be simple black and white.

And part of the reason for that is we have gotten used to instant gratification. We think what we want without critical analysis and can Google support.

 

[JanR]

Culture and society is so polarized because common sense is so rare, anymore.

 

[Beryllos]

My own theory is that polarization is a consequence of individualism. The Great Depression and World War II taught a generation about the common good, and that “united we stand,” but that lesson was being swept aside as early as the 1950s.

President Kennedy recognized this destructive trend, and called on Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

Today our politicians tell us the exact opposite.

Anyway, when we believe that individual gain is the greatest good, contempt for one’s neighbor naturally follows.

 

[Daisy]

Agree with Beryllos.
I also think the the internet has ironically made it easy for people to compartmentalize themselves. For example, many people work from home these days because they can do so online. Community has been lost. This makes We The People weak.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

ne of the great pleasures of my life is reading Quora. This website helps make sense out of the world in a way that I’ve never seen in any other website.

With the exception of one answer I read there once from an educated Brit explaining what their monarchy actually does (besides appear in celebrity gossip columns), every answer I’ve ever read on Quora has been pretty universally horrible.

I would not rely on it for anything, as unlike Wikipedia it does not require cites to sources and has little quality control.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

ne of the great pleasures of my life is reading Quora. This website helps make sense out of the world in a way that I’ve never seen in any other website.

Quora is a mixed bag. Some longer articles have citations, and others don’t. The mere fact that they have registered readers and posters, and anyone can call out or challenge what anyone else says, provides some rudimentary quality control.