I agree that we moderates (on either side of the Progressive-Conservative divide) ARE the "majority." But—rather than "silent"— my sense is that we are merely quiet.
We, who are thoughtful, open-minded, grounded in whatever values we have come to espouse in the course of our lives, who have our own evolving opinions but respect that others have theirs. . .we do not take pleasure in conflict or confrontation, and do not seek it out. We do express our opinions in the context of mutually respectful conversation, and discuss differences when doing so seems fruitful. As such, I’d say we are “quiet,” rather than “silent.”
Not so in the case of those nearer the extremes. They seem to to feel an obligation toward conflict / confrontation—and many even seem to enjoy it. Some make a hobby or a sport of it, while others make it their life’s work. They are neither silent, nor quiet. In fact, they’re usually the ones shouting through bull-horns.
When the loudest among us are also those who hold the more extreme or oppositional views, and who make it their business to bellow and argue in as much limelight as they can get, it is easy to perceive that our society/culture has become “polarized.”
But here’s a point I believe you and I are both making:
Our society and culture are NOT polarized.
Rather, there are, indeed, “poles” and the noise coming from the people at those poles does seem to dominate the air. What’s worse, they’re the ones who devise “bots” on social media to magnify and exaggerate their messaging causing them to appear greater in number, and more pervasive.
They do exist. And I do believe that their numbers are increasing, but not nearly as much as the “volume" of their bullhorns
My belief is that a very sizable majority of our citizenry, when describing themselves, might use phrases such as “I lean right” or “I’m generally Center-Left” or perhaps even just “Centrist” or “Moderate.” They are ashamed, embarrassed, and disappointed at the behavior of those on either extreme.
Heck, think of a U.S. state that is as “deep blue” or “crimson red” as they get. And guess what? Even those most extreme examples are still only about 60%-40%!
Speaking for myself, I have to fight the understandable tendency to believe what we are told about becoming so polarized as to be tearing our society apart. Trust me, there are a great many powerful entities out there who would like nothing more than to see that happen. They stoke the flames of our conflict. They're the ones who deliver pallets of bricks where riots are scheduled/organized, and fund revolutionary initiatives.
The very fact that you have read this far into this piece says something about you. And me. And about the majority of our fellow citizens. We, in the reasonable middle zone (flanking the divide) DO represent the majority.
So let’s take comfort (and perhaps a little pride) in the realization that we all agree on a whole lot more than we disagree about. But—as alluded to above—focus is kept on where the disagreements are, distorting reality.
We are NOT the “Silent Majority,” although we are usually pretty quiet.
But we ARE, however, the “Moderate Majority.”
And something tells me we have a hero role to play once all the exaggerated fighting gets old.
I disagree slightly with the author. The author states: "The Liberal belief that we should all have individual freedom to choose and the conservative collective ideals seem to have created a divided society." However, in my estimation, current-day liberals do not believe in "individual freedom to choose." Instead, they believe that there is "one right way to think" and anyone who doesn't sign on to their way of thinking is evil - they are the ones who believe in "collective ideals." It is the conservatives who, generally, believe more in "whatever floats your boat - you can believe whatever you want, but don't try to force me to adhere to your beliefs." Hence, the current-day liberals (or "progressives") insist you must use a person's chosen pronouns even when those pronouns do not agree with the person's biological reality. And everyone must believe in world-ending climate change; everyone must believe there are 56 or more genders; everyone must believe in "white privilege"; etc., etc., etc. Conservatives largely reject these "collective ideals" and instead assert an individual right to believe/choose their own way of believing.
Loved this letter, and it very much resonated with me. The so-called 'tolerant' liberals have become just as (if not more) intolerant and illiberal than all the so-called right-wingers that they rail against. Even the term 'right wing' has competely lost its meaning, as it can now be applied to anyone in the middle or on the left, who doesn't full-heartedly accept every new dogma. It's chilling to see how much freedom of speech has been impacted, and how many are self censoring. Then there's the division and polarisation on everything from Covid to Trump or Brexit and how it's destroyed relationships. In the U.K. I have spoken to friends who admit they no longer want to be friends with people who voted for Brexit. It's also disturbing to see, as you said, opinions being presented as news, meaning many of us, understandly, no longer trust the mainstream media, who seem more intent on selling us an ideology package, rather than informing us of the news. In all areas of life, there is a general lack of trust, acceptance and openness which is stifling debate and destroying society. And even talking about this has become controversial. And yet, we are told, this is all for a progressive, liberal society.
Any chance for those of us paid subscribers over at locals gaining access to this? Seems like my yearly subscription might include more than just the unedited version of Dumpster Fire which I enjoy however I can’t access these
I agree that we moderates (on either side of the Progressive-Conservative divide) ARE the "majority." But—rather than "silent"— my sense is that we are merely quiet.
We, who are thoughtful, open-minded, grounded in whatever values we have come to espouse in the course of our lives, who have our own evolving opinions but respect that others have theirs. . .we do not take pleasure in conflict or confrontation, and do not seek it out. We do express our opinions in the context of mutually respectful conversation, and discuss differences when doing so seems fruitful. As such, I’d say we are “quiet,” rather than “silent.”
Not so in the case of those nearer the extremes. They seem to to feel an obligation toward conflict / confrontation—and many even seem to enjoy it. Some make a hobby or a sport of it, while others make it their life’s work. They are neither silent, nor quiet. In fact, they’re usually the ones shouting through bull-horns.
When the loudest among us are also those who hold the more extreme or oppositional views, and who make it their business to bellow and argue in as much limelight as they can get, it is easy to perceive that our society/culture has become “polarized.”
But here’s a point I believe you and I are both making:
Our society and culture are NOT polarized.
Rather, there are, indeed, “poles” and the noise coming from the people at those poles does seem to dominate the air. What’s worse, they’re the ones who devise “bots” on social media to magnify and exaggerate their messaging causing them to appear greater in number, and more pervasive.
They do exist. And I do believe that their numbers are increasing, but not nearly as much as the “volume" of their bullhorns
My belief is that a very sizable majority of our citizenry, when describing themselves, might use phrases such as “I lean right” or “I’m generally Center-Left” or perhaps even just “Centrist” or “Moderate.” They are ashamed, embarrassed, and disappointed at the behavior of those on either extreme.
Heck, think of a U.S. state that is as “deep blue” or “crimson red” as they get. And guess what? Even those most extreme examples are still only about 60%-40%!
Speaking for myself, I have to fight the understandable tendency to believe what we are told about becoming so polarized as to be tearing our society apart. Trust me, there are a great many powerful entities out there who would like nothing more than to see that happen. They stoke the flames of our conflict. They're the ones who deliver pallets of bricks where riots are scheduled/organized, and fund revolutionary initiatives.
The very fact that you have read this far into this piece says something about you. And me. And about the majority of our fellow citizens. We, in the reasonable middle zone (flanking the divide) DO represent the majority.
So let’s take comfort (and perhaps a little pride) in the realization that we all agree on a whole lot more than we disagree about. But—as alluded to above—focus is kept on where the disagreements are, distorting reality.
We are NOT the “Silent Majority,” although we are usually pretty quiet.
But we ARE, however, the “Moderate Majority.”
And something tells me we have a hero role to play once all the exaggerated fighting gets old.
I'm in.
I disagree slightly with the author. The author states: "The Liberal belief that we should all have individual freedom to choose and the conservative collective ideals seem to have created a divided society." However, in my estimation, current-day liberals do not believe in "individual freedom to choose." Instead, they believe that there is "one right way to think" and anyone who doesn't sign on to their way of thinking is evil - they are the ones who believe in "collective ideals." It is the conservatives who, generally, believe more in "whatever floats your boat - you can believe whatever you want, but don't try to force me to adhere to your beliefs." Hence, the current-day liberals (or "progressives") insist you must use a person's chosen pronouns even when those pronouns do not agree with the person's biological reality. And everyone must believe in world-ending climate change; everyone must believe there are 56 or more genders; everyone must believe in "white privilege"; etc., etc., etc. Conservatives largely reject these "collective ideals" and instead assert an individual right to believe/choose their own way of believing.
Loved this letter, and it very much resonated with me. The so-called 'tolerant' liberals have become just as (if not more) intolerant and illiberal than all the so-called right-wingers that they rail against. Even the term 'right wing' has competely lost its meaning, as it can now be applied to anyone in the middle or on the left, who doesn't full-heartedly accept every new dogma. It's chilling to see how much freedom of speech has been impacted, and how many are self censoring. Then there's the division and polarisation on everything from Covid to Trump or Brexit and how it's destroyed relationships. In the U.K. I have spoken to friends who admit they no longer want to be friends with people who voted for Brexit. It's also disturbing to see, as you said, opinions being presented as news, meaning many of us, understandly, no longer trust the mainstream media, who seem more intent on selling us an ideology package, rather than informing us of the news. In all areas of life, there is a general lack of trust, acceptance and openness which is stifling debate and destroying society. And even talking about this has become controversial. And yet, we are told, this is all for a progressive, liberal society.
Friends of politically homeless…I’m with you!
Any chance for those of us paid subscribers over at locals gaining access to this? Seems like my yearly subscription might include more than just the unedited version of Dumpster Fire which I enjoy however I can’t access these