Looking through the latest posts on this forum, it occurs to me that House of Politics is beginning to reflect the voters of this great nation in that we're becoming increasingly polarized. Either we think that the Democrats are the essence of evil, or that the Republicans are. Either this is the greatest free nation on Earth, or we're sliding into "Marxism", "Communism" or "Fascism", never just implementing policies with which we find some fault.
Reasoned debate is being supplanted by ranting and verbal assaults on the person with whom we disagree, and not just on this forum, but in the larger arena of national discourse as well. The most popular commentators are the ones preaching that anyone who disagrees with their own rather narrow point of view are not just people with a different philosophy, but are deluded, conspiratorial, or perhaps just evil.
The lightning rod for extremism of all kinds is the president. Either people love him and can find no fault with anything he does, or they hate him and see him as the representative of whatever sort of -ism them detest most, usually, the dreaded "liberalism". He tends to be seen as single handedly bringing the nation down, or as the great hope for the future, not just as a fallible individual who has been given what is probably the most difficult job in the world.
Liberalism and conservatism alike are ill defined, and tend to refer to those evil ones who disagree with one's point of view, those with whom there can be no compromise or points of agreement, either the "other team", or perhaps even the essence of evil, bent on destroying our nation.
What do you think? Do you agree that there is a polarization on this forum? Does that reflect the same sort of extremism that is becoming common in the nation at large?
Reasoned debate is being supplanted by ranting and verbal assaults on the person with whom we disagree, and not just on this forum, but in the larger arena of national discourse as well. The most popular commentators are the ones preaching that anyone who disagrees with their own rather narrow point of view are not just people with a different philosophy, but are deluded, conspiratorial, or perhaps just evil.
The lightning rod for extremism of all kinds is the president. Either people love him and can find no fault with anything he does, or they hate him and see him as the representative of whatever sort of -ism them detest most, usually, the dreaded "liberalism". He tends to be seen as single handedly bringing the nation down, or as the great hope for the future, not just as a fallible individual who has been given what is probably the most difficult job in the world.
Liberalism and conservatism alike are ill defined, and tend to refer to those evil ones who disagree with one's point of view, those with whom there can be no compromise or points of agreement, either the "other team", or perhaps even the essence of evil, bent on destroying our nation.
What do you think? Do you agree that there is a polarization on this forum? Does that reflect the same sort of extremism that is becoming common in the nation at large?