Young people: Can you quell political polarization?
I see signs of hope in this generation; my generation has played a big role in dividing us
Dear 20-somethings: I hate to do this to you, but I’m about to drop another burden on your shoulders. I realize you’re dealing with a lot these days — a crummy job market, mounds of student debt, a global climate crisis. Meanwhile, you’re coming of age during this damned pandemic, which complicates everything, even the simple act of going out for a beer to connect or commiserate with your friends.
But I have to do this, because someone has to do it, and my generation has failed. I’m counting on you to make great strides toward curtailing political polarization in America.
I’m looking to you largely because I see signs of hope in your generation, and my generation has played a big role in driving the wedge that divides Americans so deeply right now. I’m 54 years old, a child of the ’70s and ’80s, the days of the Cold War and MTV, Walter Cronkite and Howard Cosell and Johnny Carson (they’re worth a Google search). Before social media and partisan cable news and political bases ruled the day.
This polarization problem happened on our watch, and I’m sorry about that. We didn’t see it coming, and when it did, we didn’t handle it well.
Understand that many of us weren’t accustomed to so many different options for consuming news, or social networks that gave us voice to express our thoughts so breezily. Computers? They were these big, boxy, futuristic things that most of us didn’t understand, unless we heard one referenced on an episode of “The Jetsons.”
Compounding the problem, we’ve had poor role models. For the past four years, the president of the United States has been a 70-something cyberbully.
In a recent column titled “What Facebook Fed The Baby Boomers,” Charlie Warzel of the Washington Post quoted an anonymous colleague who aptly
described social media’s impact on older generations: “Facebook created a town hall for fighting. It’s almost like if you were building a machine to make a country divisive and extreme — if you were to sit down and plan what that would look like — it would be this.”
It’s a relief to me that the next president has vowed to try to unite us, but I’m not expecting much. Though I think he’s sincere about it, it’s too much to ask of one person, even a person in power. It feels awfully naïve to believe Joe Biden alone is going to unite us.
So as I see it, it’s up to you. It’s a generation’s work. I think you might be up to the challenge — at the very least, many of you want to tackle it.
As a college writing instructor, I spend a lot of time around your generation, and I’m often impressed. I’m impressed that many of you genuinely care about the health of the planet, equal rights and the value of diversity. I also know that many of you are terribly bothered by
political polarization.
So don’t be intimidated about this. I know from 54 years of watching this world and reading much about its turbulent history that change can happen. It often takes time.
Also, understand some things. First, that politics is important. It affects important matters in our lives, such as our economy, education system, environment and access to equal rights.
Don’t shy away from participating in the political process. I realize that many of you are turned off by what you see in contemporary politics, but turning your back on the process will only ensure that no change occurs.
And don’t think of everything in binary terms — liberal or conservative. There are shades of gray everywhere, even in our politics, which are easily overlooked these days. Remember the words of French author Andre Guide: “Tyranny is the absence of complexity.”
Be a smart news consumer.
Limit your exposure to partisan outlets and avoid bubbles in which partisan news is all you get, and always be willing to think a little harder.
Study history, and have hope. We’ve been through deeply polarized times before; the Civil War may be the best example.
Finally, don’t try to solve the entire problem alone. Focus on your little corner of the world. In an essay titled “Writing To Change The World,” psychologist and author Mary Pipher explains that writing to exact change focuses on “at least a small part of the world, or in some small way, perhaps a change in a reader’s mood or in his or her appreciation of a certain kind of beauty.”
And isn’t that exactly what we want to see here — a change in someone’s mood, and eventually, a certain kind of beauty?