As the United States of America barrels closer to yet another contentious presidential election it’s becoming increasingly apparent to myself and many others that we have a serious breakdown in how we citizens interact with each other, and how the government works to support us.  Leading to the conclusion…

This country is broken

We’re at the point where:

• 33% of the people perceive the dominant 33% of the media as straight liars
• Another 33% of the people perceive the dominant 33% of the media as straight liars
  • Except they both only perceive the opposite of their opinion as the dominant liars
• The last 33% just shake their heads and wonder what’s wrong with everybody

As with anything, the truth is in the middle

The truth itself has become difficult or impossible to determine.  It seems the complete overload of information access in the internet age has had the effect of bad sources of information being just as accessible, and difficult to discern from the accurate sources.  There’s likely a few contributing factors to this… mostly driven by human psychology. 

As humans we like to see information that agrees with what we already think and believe.  That’s just far more comforting than having to challenge a position we hold.  The more entrenched that position becomes, the more uncomfortable it will be to face information that opposes it.  The brain’s simple solution is to simply reject that information, problem solved.  All kinds of justifications will be applied to support this filtering.

As social creatures, we tend to coalesce into groups of like-minded or otherwise similar groups.  This tendency feeds the so called information bubbles that are happening on social media.  We simply get along with people better when we can observe or even just suspect they’re similar to us.  This also feeds racism in our society by promoting self-segregation, and keeping us from truly experiencing different cultures.  Combine this with the vast and varied (often conflicting) info on the internet, and the semi-anonymity that enables us to say the worst things to each other online that most of us would never consider saying to another’s face, and you have huge groups of people living in their own little worlds.  In your own little bubble of information you won’t be challenged with another viewpoint, relieving the potential stress of that scenario.  Add that the internet enables you to very easily de-humanize those with opposing viewpoints, the justifications to avoid critical thought are easier than ever.

The Media plays this game too

There is about 33% of the media capitalizing on this separation, by fueling the outrage emotions.  That works super well for clicks, views, ratings and therefore advertising revenue.  In that way they are really incentivized to continue this behavior.  Add to that the ability to sway groups of people as a voting block and pursue political power, and you have some serious incentive to keep spewing misinformation.

But, seemingly unbeknownst to either of those polarized 33% groups of people, there is a collection of real media that reports facts, checks statements etc.  Unfortunately due to the above human tendencies, few seem to seek out this actual information or take a moment to really consider it and allow their beliefs to be challenged.

So what do we do about this?

Sometimes it seems nothing but a full scale revolution and destruction of the current status quo will change this… but then I pull back from the edge and focus on the reality of now, and what it is that I can do.  Then things become more simple.  If we were ALL to do the same, real change will happen.

Stop with the internet, and dialog in real life

Remove the ease of argument, and make the effort to really listen to other’s viewpoints.  This will only work of both parties are willing to challenge their beliefs of course, which will be rare.  The only thing you can control is your own position.  Doing so in real life allows the rest of the communication process to take place (only 7% or less can be conveyed in text).  This will make it harder to dismiss someone as stupid, ill-informed or willfully ignorant, and foster true communication.

Start with compassion

The person that may disagree with you is no less human and no less deserving of consideration than you are.  If you have additional experience or background, explain rationally but rely on that compassion to stop you from dismissing them.

Start the hard conversations

This is perhaps the most difficult part for me.  I tend to project where it will go, always to an argument and bad feelings.  I do that with those closest to me, let alone any more distant friends or strangers.  The truth is, if you approach these topics with respect and compassion the conversation can be healthy.  This is how we move the needle on a small personal level.

What about the political system?

This is the rub… America’s two party system is not only no longer representing the people, it has become a self-feeding shit show of extremism.  There are some politicians out there that are genuine, are in the game to do what they believe is right, and will listen to constituents.  At least I have to believe there are, and suspect they primarily exist at the local level.

We’re treading way into opinion here… but I feel the parties themselves destroy that nature as a politician ascends into the national arena.  It’s become a defend the party first, think of the good of the country second system.  There are lots of ideas about this that I can’t possibly summarize and put here as viable solutions… so here’s a few high level thoughts instead

• The election count system actively eliminates the chances of a new political party
• The parties themselves actively eliminate deviations and discourage compromise
• The funding systems eliminate the voice of regular citizens
• Citizens United greatly increased that elimination of the voice for regular citizens

These will take a miracle to correct I’m afraid, mostly because those that need to change this setup are those that benefit from it… the politicians themselves and the very large amount of money in organizations around them.

Meanwhile…

• Become informed, break that bubble and compromise!
• Vote for those that support what you care about, drop allegiance to political party
• Support those that compromise
• Call out corruption and actively campaign against it