I just finished an excellent book called THE BIG SORT that does much to both explain the divisiveness and inability to compromise that we see in modern right-vs-left "discourse" and illuminate some of the reasons we live where we live (hint: it has NOTHING to do with shopping for low property taxes).
THE BIG SORT will provide fodder for a great many posts in the weeks ahead. I'll introduce it with the very last paragraph in the book, a passage which succinctly condenses the author's thesis. Very insightful stuff:
Beginning nearly thirty years ago, the people of this country unwittingly began a social experiment. Finding comfort in "people like us," we have created, and are creating, new institutions distinguished by their isolation and single-mindedness. We have replaced a belief in a nation with a trust in ourselves and our carefully chosen surroundings. And we have worked quietly and hard to remove any trace of the "constant clashing of opinions" from daily life. It was a social revolution, one that was both profound and, because it consisted of people simply going about their lives, entirely unnoticed. In this time, we have reshaped our economies, transformed our businesses, both created and decimated our cities, and altered institutions of faith and fellowship that have withstood centuries. Now more isolated than ever in our private lives, cocooned with our fellows, we approach public life with the sensibility of customers who are always right. "Tailor-made" has worked so well for industry and social networking sites, for subdivisions and churches, we expect it from our government, too. But democracy doesn't seem to work that way.
Isn't that the truth.
The "constant clash of opinions" is now labeled "media bias" as a method of ignoring what the other side has to say.
Posted by: J. Strupp | July 09, 2008 at 10:25 AM
Buy the book, Josh. You'll yellow-highlight it to within an inch of its life.
Posted by: John Michlig | July 09, 2008 at 10:33 AM