Newsletter #302 — November 24, 2024
We will be taking the rest of the week off, as it is Thanksgiving Week in the U.S. We hope all our U.S. readers have a restful and not-too-contentious Thanksgiving, as families get together and inevitably, talk about the election. We recommend active listening, rather than attacking when our siblings or uncles who are on “the other side” start attacking our choices or values. But it is also worth considering whether to engage at all—we discussed this in Newsletter 243, published on June 9 of this year, but appropriately entitled: “Talking with Friends and Family about the Election.” You might also take a look at Anne Leslie: Slurps, Sulks, and Family History: Do You Care Enough to Argue (Newsletter 222 from March 24, 2024). We’ll be back the week after Thanksgiving!
Reader Suggested Links
Highlighting links suggested by our readers. Please send us links to things that you find useful.
- Class Inequity
The New Class Politics — An argument that our turbulent politics is a whole lot easier to understand when one focuses on class-based differences. - US Election
Obama Isn’t Going Anywhere — A look at the outsized role that President Obama continues to play in Democratic politics. - Israel / Hamas War
Would this be acceptable if Jews were not the victims? — An illustration of a good way to identify discriminatory behavior -- ask if it would be okay to treat other groups in the same way. - Climate / Environment
Global Existential Risks — A scientific look at the nature of existential, societal risk and reassuring news that climate change doesn't qualify (other things do, unfortunately). - Psychological Complexity
Implicit Bias: A Zombie Theory That Needs to Finally Die — A critical look at the theory and history behind the concept of implicit bias. - Israel / Hamas War
Antisemitism in America: My Campus Tour — A report on a tour of US college campuses to talk about the ongoing wars in the Middle East (and related increases in antisemitic behavior). - Immigration
Deportations actually dropped under Trump during his first presidency — A surprising factoid that challenges the conventional wisdom -- deportations dropped under Trump (as compared with the Obama years).
Colleague Activities
Highlighting things that our conflict and peacebuilding colleagues are doing that contribute to efforts to address the hyper-polarization problem.
- Media Reform
News Literacy in America — A survey of teen information attitudes, habits and skills on media and the news finds that teens want more media literacy instruction, and more than half of those surveyed believe the press does more to harm democracy than protect it. - US Election
The US Elections—A Reason for Anxiety or an Opportunity for Hope and Growth? — International Center for Religion and Diplomacy published an article detailing how faith communities can play a role in reducing toxic polarization and rehumanizing perceived adversaries around the U.S. elections. - The Hyper-Polarization Threat
The problem with blind allegiance to a party. — Sharon McMahon, Movement Partner and “America’s Government Teacher,” appeared on the podcast Armchair Expert. - Peacebuilding
Great Hatred and Little Room: Building Peace in Northern Ireland — A podcast from Beyond Conflict, about deeply segregated societies where politics are personal and violence is intimate. Like Americans today, the guests and their communities had to navigate living together in an atmosphere of deep mistrust. - Peacebuilding
International Center for Religion and Diplomacy (ICRD) — Established in 1998 by Dr. Douglas Johnston, the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy (ICRD) was founded to bridge religious considerations with global peacebuilding policy and practice. - Peacebuilding
In conversation: The essential role of women in peacebuilding — From Conciliation Resources, a video with Rosa Emilia Salamanca, Executive Director of the Corporación de Investigación y Acción Social y Económica (CIASE) in Colombia about the role of women in peacebuilding. - Civil Society
Finding Opportunity in Closing Civil Spaces — At the 9th International Conference on Shrinking Civic Space in Asia, hosted by Asia Center in Bangkok, Counterpart conducted a session on strategies for civil society organizations to use in constricted civic spaces. - Developing a Unifying Vision
Building Resilient Communities — Can we coexist as a technologically advanced society without eroding the innate human instincts that enable us to harmoniously weave societies, thereby allowing life to fulfill its magnificent evolutionary destiny? - The Hyper-Polarization Threat
4 Myths About America’s Toxic Polarization Problem — You can think, “My political opponents are worse,” and still help depolarization. Learn how to respond when someone objects to reducing political toxicity. Read this piece and share it when you see the opportunity
News and Opinion
From around the web, more insight into the nature of our conflict problems, limits of business-as-usual thinking, and things people are doing to try to make things better. (Formerly, Beyond Intractability in Context.)
- Family / Gender / LBGTQ+
Should You Even Have Kids? — Looking back on wonders of a lifetime spent parenting and grandparenting, we find it incredibly sad that so many young people are deciding not to have kids. - Progressive Left
Equity Everywhere: 500 Ways the Biden-Harris Administration Infused DEI Into the Federal Government — The critical, but informative, report on exactly what the Biden administration did as part of its "whole of government" effort to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. - Communication Complexity
The Media’s Identity Crisis — Food for thought as we try to come to terms with the rapidly changing nature of the role that different kinds of media play in spreading information throughout our society. - Saving Democracy
Liberalism is the rebellion now — Concern that classic liberal ideals like individual freedom and dignity are increasingly being marginalized. - Constructive Communication
How to Be a Writer in the Second Age of Trump — Thoughtful insights from a writer who has been trying to figure out how he might best be able to contribute to the great national conversation that is going to accompany Trump's 2nd term. - Interstate War
The U.S. Marines’ biggest fight right now is internal — An important reminder that what the military spends its money on is as important as how much it spends. Our security really does depend on the wisdom of the choices now being made. - Saving Democracy
Governors Launch Initiative to Protect American Democracy — From Colorado Gov. Polis information about the Governors Initiative to Protect American Democracy. - Interstate War
T-Mobile Hacked in Massive Chinese Breach of Telecom Networks — Another peek at the scale of the ongoing "hybrid" war between the US and China. - Artificial Intelligence
A Powerful AI Breakthrough Is About to Transform the World — A story about recent developments in artificial intelligence technology that may be about to make it vastly smarter. - Interstate War
Why America Became the Great Satan — A the evolution of Iran's antipathy toward the United States and Israel and an examination of the failure of diplomatic efforts to build a more positive relationship. - Israel / Hamas War
Stories the Media Purposely Ignore About Israel — A review of some of the stories about Israel and the ongoing wars that mainstream media is largely missing. - Family / Gender / LBGTQ+
Meet the Women with AI Boyfriends — A report on just how far men and women have become estranged from one another. - Interstate War
Biological warfare is a real threat. How can we deter it? — A reminder that biological warfare deserves a prominent place at the top of our mega-worry list -- a worry that really ought to be getting a lot more attention. - US Election
The Election Gender Gap Was Expected to Be Huge but Was Unremarkable — Amid all the articles highlighting the political divide between men and women, surprising news that the spread between male and female voting patterns was surprisingly small. - Psychological Complexity
Why Mind Viruses Are Real — A look at the complex psychological and social dynamics that spread ideas (many of them bad) throughout society. - Israel / Hamas War
After War in Gaza, Rivals Hamas and Fatah Don’t Plan to Be in Charge — Hopeful news that a post-war system for governing Gaza may be emerging -- a system that may free Palestinians from the terror of Hamas and the corruption of the Palestinian Authority. - Class Inequity
The New Driving Force of Identity Politics Is Class, Not Race — An argument that the United States' "identity politics" is in the process of refocusing itself around class and away from race.
Please Contribute Your Ideas To This Discussion!
In order to prevent bots, spammers, and other malicious content, we are asking contributors to send their contributions to us directly. If your idea is short, with simple formatting, you can put it directly in the contact box. However, the contact form does not allow attachments. So if you are contributing a longer article, with formatting beyond simple paragraphs, just send us a note using the contact box, and we'll respond via an email to which you can reply with your attachment. This is a bit of a hassle, we know, but it has kept our site (and our inbox) clean. And if you are wondering, we do publish essays that disagree with or are critical of us. We want a robust exchange of views.
About the MBI Newsletters
Two or three times a week, Guy and Heidi Burgess, the BI Directors, share some of our thoughts on political hyper-polarization and related topics. We also share essays from our colleagues and other contributors, and every week or so, we devote one newsletter to annotated links to outside readings that we found particularly useful relating to U.S. hyper-polarization, threats to peace (and actual violence) in other countries, and related topics of interest. Each Newsletter is posted on BI, and sent out by email through Substack to subscribers. You can sign up to receive your copy here and find the latest newsletter here or on our BI Newsletter page, which also provides access to all the past newsletters, going back to 2017.
NOTE! If you signed up for this Newsletter and don't see it in your inbox, it might be going to one of your other emails folder (such as promotions, social, or spam). Check there or search for beyondintractability@substack.com and if you still can't find it, first go to our Substack help page, and if that doesn't help, please contact us.
If you like what you read here, please ....
