Another half-baked reflection from time spent down the #Bitcoin rabbit hole. I have been preoccupied lately with the question of how we rescue and renew institutions and other social intermediaries from debasement, tribalization and capture.
We are in an epoch of social and political tribalization predicated on distorted signals and coding (in language), Big letter ideology/affiliation has replaced the actual political-philosophical underpinnings that gave rise to people grouping and organizing around them.
“Conservative/Liberal” have replaced “conservative/liberal”. “Progressive/progressive” has followed suit, although (ironically) progressivism was a reaction to the distortion and capture of liberalism manifest in the US Democratic Party.
These distortions have become entrenched via political parties which a similar role as sports franchises. They centralize, encapsulate and re-present to the public a wide range of values, beliefs and emotions with the goal of attracting and maintaining congregants.
The frenzy of tribal affiliation, channeled through political parties, is amplified by mass media which prey upon this theatre of competition. We are provided a steady diet of coded language & signals that perpetuate the sport. We then recycle these in civic engagements.
How do we retrieve ourselves from the gravitational pull of this destructive state of affairs. What in the prescription for action? I have a couple of thoughts, both imperfectly fashioned.
The first is for us to recognize the theatre for what it is and ourselves as unwitting actors. This means becoming conscious of our tribalization and the factors at play. It also means interrogating our tendency to falsely attribute intent to individuals on the “other team”.
8/ As I’ve said before, I believe that 80% of people can generally agree on 80% of issues. We are in an epoch where we are conditioning ourselves (perhaps conditioned) to believe that only 20% of people can agree on 80% of things.
The act of seeing across perceived difference and political affiliation, of exercising a spirit of generosity and willingness to dialogue, is one that can be undertaken personally. It doesn’t require a political or social movement. This is empowering.
Secondly, however, another potential remedy for the ills of our epoch is to remove political parties from our liberal democracies. Let us return to an era of elected political representation WITHOUT the affiliation of our elected representatives to a centralized/ing party.
This could (would?) incite greater discourse at a local level and place increased weight on civic education and engagement to achieve value, rather than our default to the centralized political packaging of party institutions. A re-de-centralization of democracy.
I welcome thoughts on the above. If you made it this far, thank you for considering my reflections.
