Is Loneliness Fueling the Rise of Political Polarization in the U.S.?

[HenryGeorge]

Is Loneliness Fueling the Rise of Political Polarization in the U.S.?

While browsing through a recently discovered bookstore, I stumbled across a book titled, Republican Like Me: How I Left the Liberal Bubble and Learned to Love the Right by Ken Stern.

Finding the title intriguing, I opened the book and began reading about his experience breaking out of the political “bubble” and experiencing life on the other side.

One of Stern’s points centers on tribalism, a term describing the identity politics and the “us vs. them” mentality prevalent in modern culture, particularly since the 2016 elections. Such tribalism is driven by many things, but fear is a major factor.

Clearly, people on both sides of the political spectrum are scared, each thinking that the other is a threat to their very way of life.

Yet, while each party feels some threat from the “other side,” does American fear stem from something deeper than political leaders?

Hannah Arendt, a German-American philosopher, spent time tracing the demise of a nation into totalitarianism in her book, “The Origins of Totalitarianism.” What I find most fascinating in this book is the connection she draws between loneliness and fear. Loneliness, she argues, has serious consequences:

“What makes loneliness so unbearable is the loss of one's own self which can be realized in solitude, but confirmed in its identity only by the trusting and trustworthy company of my equals. In this situation, man loses trust in himself as the partner of his thoughts and that elementary confidence in the world which is necessary to make experiences at all. Self and world, capacity for thought and experience are lost at the same time.”

In other words, loneliness is harmful to individuals, not because it’s merely unpleasant, but because it leads to a loss of self-identity, and consequently, a real view of the world.

Furthermore, if a person does not have some idea of who they are, they will not be able to make sense of the world around them, and will ultimately become confused, fearful, and unable to function. So they must choose something to identify themselves with if they want to make sense of the world at all and attain some level of inner security.

With depression rates rising and nearly half of Americans feeling alone, it’s clear that an epidemic of loneliness is upon us. Could this loneliness have the same effect on America that Arendt suggested, namely, the loss of “self and world”?

This seems possible. Many individuals no longer have the communal and social connections they once had, such as religion, ethnic culture, and family. The only connection many have left is their political party, and that forms their identity. And because of the closeness this has to their identity, they become more tribal and defensive when that party is attacked.

Today we see a great fear between the opposing political parties. Does this fear come simply from the actions of both parties, or is there a greater loneliness and loss of personal identity at play?



http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/arti ... ization-us

[Contrarian Expatriate]

American women are the least lonely demographic in America, yet they are at the core of the discontent.

I think the polarization is on the left due to the media creating cognitive dissonance and untruths. The right is not perfect, but it has a more realistic view of the world, the economy, and practical solutions.

There is also an IQ division with the lower IQs clustering on the left (along with its leftist elites), and the higher IQs on the right (with its lower IQ nationalists types at the bottom).

Women, gays, and poorer ethnic minorities are the new fascists spun up by the media to believe that the world is crumbling and that Nazism is afoot in America. That is done to destabilize Trump's agenda, but it might result in a new, ideology-based civil war which some believe is already happening.

Mueller is also trying to orchestrate the legal coup d'etat but that will not succeed so long as the Republicans control the Senate which has the sole power to actually remove an impeached President.

With White House officials now being publicly harassed, it is only a matter of time before some leftist wackjob attacks one and eventually the shot across the bow for war will take place. Hopefully it will be short and not so bloody, but this pressure valve needs to be released.

[Cornfed]

The reason for political polarisation should be obvious. The schism is between the remnants of America and the populations wanting to plunder them before the whole shebang finally collapses. Within the plundering side of the equation there are further schisms between the various identity groups (blacks, fags, skanks, boomers etc.) as the white men they’ve been feeding off become drained, leaving them with a diminishing pile of carrion to fight over.

[zboy1]

I'm a minority but I don't think diversity is helping either. Too much diversity leads to friction, which in turn, leads to strife.

Plus, most youngsters are raised to be Marxists or far left liberals, which is leading to a political polarization with the older, more conservative adults in America. Loneliness is certainly a part of the problem, too.

[Moretorque]

One of the key things to understand OH Great One is the immigration bill of 1965, these morons are to stupid to realize the US has been completely sabotaged on purpose and the financial class is hoping the mass collective which are the real producers are so stupid it cannot see how it was played to give up all it's rights along with all property to make a one world permanent slave state completely controlled top to bottom at the discretion of a ruling classed armed with nothing but a pen and a supply of #'s.

Were talking dumb!

[Moretorque]

I'm a minority but I don't think diversity is helping either. Too much diversity leads to friction, which in turn, leads to strife.

Plus, most youngsters are raised to be Marxists or far left liberals, which is leading to a political polarization with the older, more conservative adults in America. Loneliness is certainly a part of the problem, too.

Check out the 1965 immigration bill, the diversity thing is just a code name for idiots. You have to have an average IQ of around 100 to maintain a 1st world country.

They started migrating a lot of idiots on purpose and at the same time importing goods from countries with a high IQ that were making said products so the people would not lose their life style here in the US as they lure us to sleep not realizing we were giving our ability to take care of ourselves up and at the same time running debt up to the commies who are ready to come in and seize everything after the US collapses because of our own stupidity.

We have been conned by the best.