BOOK: Why we're polarized (Ezra Klein)

I finished this book 7/19/2020. I bought it because I have been thinking alot about divisions in America and about a quote from Adelia Stevenson: "That which unites is far greater than that which divides us". Here is a video I made about this topic!

Quick Recap:

Ezra Klein, the founder of Vox, is a full-blown political junky. He talks about some of the biggest questions in America like race, media, partisanship as well as the moments in American politics that defined us. As someone who is constantly reading about these wild stories like when Obama was called out during the state of the union speech in 2009, or when Mitch McConnell said "Oh we'd fill it" (speaking about if he were faced with a Merrick garland situation in 2020) during a conservative dinner. These are moments that he makes sure to mention as a part of his assessment of the political system. I also appreciate his willingness to use psychology, political science, and other resources to steer the conversation and back up his points. His book is really about what it means to be conservative, liberal, or republican democrat and he tries to put the current into perspective with history, science, and data. He ends the book by acknowledging that the problems he laid out aren't just easily solved by following his advice. Instead, he offers a limited approach with principles for building a system that incorporates polarization rather than getting rid of it. I love this ending because it captures how honest and frank he is with the reader.

Lessons Learned:

1. We all fall victim to Motivated reasoning.

Motivated reasoning is when we are a part of our group and only find evidence to support our group rather than rationalizing both sides. There's this chapter of the book where he compares our mind to a press secretary's motivation to defend at all costs our group's position. He uses the imagery of the press secretary because their position as the spokesperson of the president means there is no room for "Maybe we should rethink this policy". Are we just tricking ourselves into finding the answers we want all the time? Do we all fall victim to motivated reasoning? It's a great point that I think captures much of how we think of politics. It's something that Ezra also blames the entire system and explains how critics have called him out for it. He accepts that and notes the implications for an entire system that

2. The Dixiecrats

You hear of the New Deal and the coalition that was built to provide jobs and bring the US out of the great depression. But, rarely do you hear about the prominence that southern democrats played in keeping this deal together. It also makes you realize how much concessions in terms of race and equality were made to make way for this policy. In a large way, it tarnished the legacy of this era for me. As Klein indicates, "if you weren't acceptable to southern democrats, you weren't going to be the Democrat's nominee for president in the first place.

4. Psychology

Ezra relies heavily on studies and he references them throughout the book. He understands when to back up his points with a study and when to insert himself with his own examples. One study for example that I loved was the Whole Foods vs. Cracker barrel statistics which showed liberals more likely to live near whole foods and conservatives near a cracker barrel. On the surface, it makes no sense, how could a brand determine political leaning. It comes down to what these arbitrary things reflect in the psychology of people. A study said Republicans are more "conscientious" while Democrats more "open to new experiences". It's key to recognize that neither is bad. So, Wholefoods may imply someone open to new experiences and willing to try while Cracker Barrel the complete opposite. It's this underlying psychology that is why our political beliefs may be reflected in something that seems so arbitrary. It also is something that you see all the time in terms of messaging. Obama said, "hope" and "change" signaling to his liberal, more psychologically open base something profound. While Trump said "make America great again" telling his base of conservative or psychologically more mistrustful of change, that we will make it great like before.

5. Othering is an automatic response

Ezra brings up the example of a study by Tajfel that says othering by itself brings about hostility and anger. It doesn't require a thoughtful process or a measured approach. This says a lot about our society and the power of group psychology. It's something though that has its roots beyond just politics. Think about the hatred people have for other sports teams. The amount of times I have heard drunk Phillies fans hurl insults at other fans is insane. This for me implies a warning call to myself when looking at how I view the world. Because as soon as implicitly views someone as other, I have no way of preventing the anger and hatred that follows. What do you do if that othering is impossible to prevent?

6. His Closing Remarks

I had to make this a bullet point because his message of the book is quite simple. Our current polarization is much more complicated than many make it out to be. Yes, it's bad in many ways, but it also is good in some ways as well. he uses the example of efficient allocation of parties. There are no longer conservatives in the democratic party and vice versa and taht certainly makes the job easier for someone trying to vote. He ends the book by acknowleding key things that can be done here are some of them

1. Bombproofing (Automatic budget measures that protect a crisis that could result from a polarized gov. Think of budget ceiling crisis that shut down the government)

2. Democratizing (Making the government more representative by reducing gerrymandering, making a 15 person court with 5 liberals and 5 conservatives and the rest voted unanimously the 10 partisan justices, get rid of voting restrictions, and of course getting rid of the electoral college. (His point here is that this stuff should be above politics because it makes us all better off in the long run)

3. Identity Mindfulness (We cannot separate ourselves from our identifies but we can be mindful of the identities and think about them deeper when we engage in politics. Who is taking advantage of an identity you possess both for your advantage or against you? )

He ends by saying an optimistic note that we have progressed greatly since the 1960s and that the problems we see today are little compared to those of the past. That's why his ending statement of "If we can do a bit better tomorrow, we will be doing much better than we have ever done before" comes off as a refreshing of the appreciation we can have while also being deeply critical of the system.

Quotes:

"It's possible that a more democratic America would be a more Democratic America, but it's also possible that a Republican Party that had to compete for more voters would reform itself to win that competition"

"Fox New's tagline "Fair and Balanced," is an insinuation that the rest of the media is unfair and biased."

"We live in two universes. One universe is a lie. One universe is an entire lie. Everything run, dominated, and controlled by the left here and around the world is a lie. The other universe is where we are, and that's where reality reigns supreme and we deal with it. And seldom do these two universes ever overlap." - Rush Limbaugh (Shows how partisan media is bombastic)

"Among consistent conservatives, 47 percent chose Fox News, with the next most popular answer being "local news", at 11 percent"

"Exposure to the other side's attacks is likely to trigger rebuttal, not reflection-identity-protective cognition"

"We don't just want people to read our work. We want people to spread out work... People don't share quiet voices. They share loud voice"- Says a lot about the media landscape and how the louder voices get more air time

"What if instead of telling people the things they need to know we tell them things they want to know" -Anchorman (A very true analysis of the confirmation bias)

"Greater choices let the junkies learn more and the disinterested know less"

"Netflix CEO Reed Hastings famously said his biggest competitor is sleep. Political journalism is an all-out war for people's attention with so many choices now"

"When you are accustomed to privileging, equality feels like oppression"

"The hard truth of democracy is that some citizens are always giving things up for others... We need to give each other space to negotiate around experiences of loss"

"The experience of losing status-- and being told your loss of status is part of society's march to justice-- is itself radicalizing"

"It always feels like our honest search for the truth has led us to the answer that confirms our priors"

"Changing your identity is a psychologically and socially brutal process"

"There are testable, knowable answers. There are plenty that don't. Constitutional interpretation is one of them."

"we cannot sever ourselves from our circumstances"