DIVISION!!!!! POLARISATION!!!! HATRED!!!!

Posted on by Opher

As the reign of Trump and the advent of Brexit proceeds it is increasingly clear that we are living in highly volatile, divided and polarised countries.

People live in their own bubbles. They select what they believe from sources that only reflect their views. Friends who think differently are dumped. Families are split and people who hold opposing views are ostracised, ignored, stereotyped and ridiculed.

In the USA a whole range of issues have become totally politicised: Immigration, the environment, global warming, gun control, abortion, contraception, Muslims and hunting come to mind.

In the UK it is Immigration, Muslims, Tommy Robinson, sovereignty, nationalism, race, rape, terrorism and the EU.

The strength of emotion is extreme. The vitriol and rancour is evident.

People are no longer thinking about issues. They decide on a side and then accept the view put out by that side via the websites that feed them the raw meat. It is an emotional choice.

The prevailing view is that everybody is lying. Everything is fake news. You can’t trust the experts. Scientists are in the pay of various groups. So people can believe what they want.

In the States there are those who believe Trump can do no wrong and those who believe he is the epitome of evil.

In the UK we are split into those who believe Brexit will deliver a better Britain and those who believe it is a total disaster.

There is no compromise! There is no middle view! There is no debate!

Tommy Robinson is either the peoples’ champion or a fascist Islamophobe.

Global warming is a liberal globalist plot or a looming disaster.

The level of division and hatred is unparalleled. It is exemplified by the change in attitudes in the USA:

in 1958 – only 4% of Americans approved of interracial marriages. That has risen to 87% approval.

28% of Americans were against marriage between political parties. That has risen to 63%.

That means that only 1 in ten Americans would be unhappy if their daughter married someone from a different race but 6 out of ten would be unhappy if their daughter married someone from a different political party!!

The bad feeling between Republicans and Democrats has never been as bad.

In Britain – it is probably as bad between Brexiteers and Remainers. But we don’t have guns!

So where does this hate and polarisation lead?

In Britain it will come to a head when Brexit is finally out of the way. But I’m not sure that will solve too much. I suspect that if the country either prospers or languishes it will unleash a backlash of blame and recriminations. The anger will persist.

In the USA I perceive it to be even worse. There are people talking about revolution, civil war and we now have pipe-bombs being sent.

I suspect that there is going to be violence. The sides are irreconcilable and the politicians of both sides are whipping it up for their own ends.

Dark forces have been set loose.

I know who I blame!!

The Polarisation of Britain.

Posted on by Opher

Traditionally Britain was polarised into two warring factions based on class. The Tories representing the wealthy and Labour representing the working people.

The sides were muddied and confused due to the activities of the media, the concessions, sell-outs and spin, but the divisions remain.

All that changed a year ago. A new division emerged. Brexit, with its rhetoric of hatred mined the depths of racism, xenophobia and disenchantment to create a sheering into two factions – the Brexiteers and the Remainers. It is the kind of force that divides families and has friends tearing each others throats out. Far from settling it has grown into almost a civil war.

As in the USA with the Trump campaign the politicians ruthlessly exploited the desperation to create hatred and division.

a. Immigration was swamping our country

b. Immigrants were taking our jobs

c. Immigrants were clogging up our health services and schools

d. Terrorists were threatening to blow us all up

e. Terrorists were coming in with the immigrants

f. Islam was threatening our culture

g. Mosques and burqas were everywhere

h. There was rampant crime, rape and violence

I. The EU was preventing us from deporting the criminals, stopping them coming in, limiting the numbers

J. The EU was passing crazy laws on bent cucumbers

k. We needed to take control of our borders

l. We needed to take control of our legislation

m. We needed to control immigration

n. We were net contributors to the EU – It was costing too much

o. We’d be better off outside where we would have more money to spend on the NHS, schools and the British people.

Half the country looked at these arguments and said they were crap, spun, exaggerated and simply untrue. The other half looked at them and said they were all true. We had to ditch Europe.

The politicians ratcheted up the hatred and channeled the discontent and genuine concerns into simplistic positions. Instead of reasoned debate that took in the expense and difficulties of extricating ourselves (which made a mockery of the financial gain argument),  the loss of cooperation on science, arts, crime, terrorism, atomic energy, travel, trade, defence and a hundred other things, or the psychological effects of leaving and becoming insular; instead of looking at the expense of having to set up our own institutions from scratch, of providing the necessary manpower for the NHS, Care Homes, Agriculture, Restaurants etc. plus a hundred other things, the two camps entrenched themselves in an emotional haze. They stuck to their guns. They would not be deflected. Reason went out the window. Emotion ruled.

Brexiteers and Remoaners – terms of abuse as the factions vented their spleen and chose the wrong targets. The real causes of the disenchantment went scot free.

The politicians have successfully divided the country in two. The only ones to benefit are those who prey on the process – the wealthy, the barristers, the bureaucrats and of course the politicians. It was their lust for power that has created this mess.