The U.S. politics and Canadian politics threads are devoted to day-to-day partisan combat, so I thought I'd start a thread for more general social issues and trends.
First up, polarization and how moderates enable extremism by being agreeable.
Political Moderates Are Lying
The headline is a bit misleading, but the idea is that our political dialogue today is dominated by relatively small numbers of extremists and dedicated partisans. We think politics today are 50 per cent of citizens furiously shaking their fists at the other 50 per cent, but it's more like a highly motivated and inflexible 10-15 per cent on each side doing the fist-shaking, while a great number of moderates go along with one side or another out of social conformity, not earnest agreement with the extremists.
Quote:
...From what we’ve described, it is highly unlikely that most people within these groups are extreme partisans. It is instead more likely that moderates make up the rank and file. This raises an interesting question: how do moderates navigate this complex web of political tribes and echo chambers?
Simply put, they falsify their preferences. Most moderates conform to group preferences that have been established by committed ideologues.
Conformity is the key, here. Moderates must go along with the intransigent minority to get along with the group. In order to function within an echo chamber, less opinionated entrants must falsify their preferences so as to not upset those who decide the rules, rewards, and punishments. Moderates who agree with the gist of what the group stands for will often support fringe positions for the sake of group solidarity and reputational preservation. If you insist on telling the truth, your reputational goose is cooked...
- the Quillette
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