Polarization and Neighbors

Polarization and Neighbors Part 1
What ever happened to the ability to share thoughts around the neighborhood?  Not too long ago we would gather into groups of similarly situated peoples….extended family, church, block parties….to share food, discuss football, gossip a little about sexy woman down the street, lie about your golf game and share your opinion about the state of the country.  But now, it seems very difficult to have meaningful conversation about differing opinions, all of them should matter to everyone.  We can hear the unspoken communication of “don’t talk politics” .  “Don’t talk about……”…..

• Immigration
• Abortion
• Mandated birth control
• Family planning
• Gay marriage
• Muslims
• Christianity
• Corrupt government leaders
• President Obama’s background
• Professional welfare takers

These subjects should be discussed with great candor among people who care for one another with a desire to understand and learn.  But these same subjects create so much emotion that it seems impossible to get through the rhetoric and get to facts about the issues.
Our society has become infected by this idea of polarization in which the most extreme person/idea wins.  Have we lost a sense of cooperation or collaboration through which we can move our society forward?  In my next post, I will begin to speculate on why this is happening.