Polarized! the Case for Civility in the Time of Trump

In the US, our body politic is sick. Political polarization has become violent and even spawned a new psychological condition, "post-election stress disorder." Instead of lowering the temperature, the media, politicians, and political action committees (PACs) stoke the angry passion of extremism. In a culture of outrage and siloing, social media is the go-to place to attack and to hide. Users rant and vent, and they huddle in like-minded silos. Social media encourages impulsive and angry responses to tweets or posts that irritate us. It also allows us to avoid challenges to our conventional wisdom. We can block, unfriend, and hunker down in private groups. Social media has so far aggravated, rather than helped to cure, ideological polarization and partisanship. Is there a higher and better use? Facebook is the largest forum in the history of humankind for free and open communication among citizens. It can be used to engage in meaningful conversations about important political, social, and economic issues. The choice is ours to make. As is demonstrated in Jeff Rasley's latest book "regular folks" can use their social networks for civil discussion and debate, and then for positive political action. Or, they can follow the lead of President Trump to tweet insults and ridicule political opponents. Who do we want to be as a nation? "The Case for Civility" exposes the causes and effects of hyper-partisanship. It offers a "modest proposal" to treat the symptoms of toxic polarization using social media. An experiment Rasley conducted in Facebook based on the values of civility, tolerance, pragmatism, and moderation proves there is a cure. Jeff Rasley is the author of 9 other books, including "Godless - Living a Valuable Life beyond Beliefs" and "Bringing Progress to Paradise," a memoir about adventure and philanthropy in the Nepal Himalayas.