Beyond Rivalry

"The political divide in America that matters isn't the one separating red states from blue -- it is the gap between news junkies and everyone else, says Newsweek's Evan Thomas.

"The junkies watch endless cable-TV news shows and listen to angry talk radio and feel passionate about their political views. They number roughly 20 percent of the population .... Then there's all the rest: the people who prefer ESPN or old movies or videogames or Facebook or almost anything on the air or online to politics. Once upon a time, these people tended to be political moderates; now they are turned off or tuned out."

Interesting discussion of 'hyperpartisanship,' which means that people on one 'side' see people on the other "'not simply as wrong but as corrupt and wicked." 

I was going to comment that knowing more about people 'on the other side' might make us like them more, have more compassion for them, in the same way that actually being in conversation with people whose views we oppose often leads to a softening of position, an ability to at least glimpse the other's point of view, a willingness to compromise. But maybe that willingness comes first and is what makes it possible for us to engage 'the other,' to seek to know the other and her views better.  

And it's probably naive to think that 'being in conversation' with someone, being engaged with them, wanting to know and perhaps understand another person and his views is the true focus of most news programmes and call-in shows, of most of what news 'junkies' are watching and listening to. I would guess most of us seek out the 'news' that best matches our own views already, not the news that challenges our views and makes us curious. 

And further, knowing 'the other' doesn't always lead to a softening towards them, as many families and marriages can attest. But maybe continuing to be willing to know and to learn from 'the other' does. Once we believe someone has nothing to teach us, nothing worthwhile to offer us, it's much easier to perceive their views and actions with disdain and contempt, much easier to see them not just as wrong but as evil.

More at the WSJ's Informed Reader and at Newsweek.