We are talking more and more about social division, or polarization. In the public sphere, strong likes and dislikes for political parties are boiling over, along with opposing views on various sensitive issues. Although debate and diversity of opinion are the foundation of democracy, healthy criticism of decisions, actions, or ideas is declining in the public sphere, while more and more adjectival language is being used about the people who make decisions or propose ideas.
Topics that create social fault lines are those where clear “us” and “them” groups can be seen around emotionally charged issues. At the highest point of tension, different camps begin attaching labels to one another: anti-vaxxers vs. vaxxers, vatniks vs. conservative-loony types, rotten elite vs. turnips, and the like.
Labels are only the tip of the iceberg — many “smaller” topics never reach such a level of tension. Still, in a context saturated with tension and opposition, any division of society into two clear groups can become an additional fault line. Especially when one side assumes the role of the all-knowing authority or the righteous one, while the other side is left with <…>
Read more: https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/verslo-pozicija/692/2918327/giedre-zurbaite-pensiju-reforma-viesojoje-erdveje-zibalas-i-poliarizacijos-lauza
