Mutually Assured Destruction: Social Media and the Culture Wars

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I joined Twitter a couple of months ago.  I did so unenthusiastically, and mainly to peddle this marginal blog.  Being new to the space, it took me a few weeks or so to understand the environment and how it all works.  I suppose my experience, and for others is well, is really shaped by the people you follow.  Unfortunately for me, I follow mostly media and political personalities.  As such, my Twitter feed is essentially a constant thread of ad hominem attacks, put downs, hateful rhetoric, along with an arrogance and certainty of one's beliefs.  

Besides bringing out the worst in us, it also, and obviously, divides us, promoting the kind of tribalism that does not allow the center to hold.  It pushes the liberals further left and conservatives further right, leaving no real room in the middle.   Instead, it promotes a "defeat the enemy at all cost" mentality, which leaves little room, or need for, objective self analysis.  When you are so busy screaming at the kettle for being black, you have little time or incentive to notice your pot is the same color, or that you are engaged in the very thing you self assuredly claim to abhor.  There are very few "blue checks" who take a breath, look around, and realize that they are contributing to the degradation of our democracy and culture.  

All of this reminds me of the nuclear proliferation of the Cold War and the resulting policy of "mutually assured destruction."  Essentially, the two sides had built up such an arsenal of destructive weapons that both sides knew that in the event of war, both would destroy each other.  Thus, this build up of weapons actually prevented all out nuclear war.  If one side initiated the use of nuclear weapons, the other would retaliate more severely, followed by yet another retaliation.  Hence, deterrence was accomplished by the knowledge that the beginning of a nuclear war would signal the end of humanity.  Currently, in the culture wars, both sides have left any thought of deterrence and are committed to mutually destroying the other.  From their respective bunkers, the attempt to annihilate their foe consumes them and leaves no room to think about the long term damage.

Unfortunately, almost every media outlet and type has become a participant in this battle. They have lost any pretext at being unbiased, objective, or truthful.  Much of what the media makes available for public consumption is an extension of the political parties to which they are sympathetic.  With no one willing to engage in objective reporting, people are left to eagerly accepting their side's version of the story and rejecting the other side's. Twitter's democratization of large scale communication brings voices to the conflict that other wise never would have never had the chance for any interaction.  The fact that all of this is done with the convenience and cover of a digital distance allows for the war to be more vulgar and damaging.

I am not sure of the remedy, or if any actually exist.  I am sure that we are no where close to becoming less polarized, less tribal, and less combative.  I know some of this behavior is, unfortunately, is merely about winning elections.  As the say, "Elections have consequences."  Each side is afraid of what those consequences could be.  However, there in lies a small part of the problem.  We have allowed the government to have more control, authority, and involvement in our day-to-day lives.  Because of that, the aforementioned axiom is all the more important.  So, one remedy might be to make government a less important aspect of our lives.  

But it is not just about elections.  It is deeply psychological.  Humans come wired with an "us" and "them" mentality that is easily accessed and manipulated.  These "us" and "them" narratives are taught to us by our families, in our schools, at our churches, in the media, and in our culture. We hold the deep inside of us and pass them on for generations.  The examples are many and the results are often the same.  Twitter and other social media outlets, allow for 24 hour a day consumption of the "us" and "them".  

In the end, I guess I will just have to scream louder at the idiots who don't believe what I believe.