In the military there is a saying, "Second place is the first place loser." If you view life as a series of existential battles, it makes sense.
Consider an American election where second place gets you nothing. Or in the movie Highlander, where the entire plot is summed up by, "There can only be one!"
Right now American politics has settled into a binary conflict between the MAGA right and the Progressive left. Both believe that compromise equals defeat. It is an arm wrestling match, devoid of reason or middle ground. "We must crush our enemies and make sure their heretical beliefs are expunged from the common culture!" It is not far from a Holy War and we all know what happens to compassion and reason in those.
Thanks for sharing the military viewpoint, Fred. It's quite horrid, isn't it, but I suppose that's the mentality governments need their fighters to have if they plan to send them into war. They need to arouse hate because people won't fight their friends.
The state of US politics (and the legal system) is very sad, and it's having a huge influence on politics around the world with Trump copycat politicians making the most of an emboldened far right. It will be interesting to see where the world is in 20 years from now.
Trump is the symptom and not the disease. Ditto all the other populist-fascist movements. Political change is happening faster them social and cultural change. This caused a counter-reaction which energized the politically apathetic. Politicians and influencers take advantage of sentiments and fan the flames. They don't create the sentiment. There has to be a sensitive nerve in a large population for them to strike.
There is a very large demographic that has not moved on from the 1950s.. (The folks from the 1950s have morphed into today's MAGA movement.) There is also a radically opposed progressive/woke movement that rocketed ahead in political power. The MAGA crowd view progressives as an existential threat, both personally and nationally. They are desperate to stop what they see as the US equivalent of the the Fall of Rome. Progressives view conservatives in general as troglodytes to be overruled and MAGA in particular as something to be expunged and overwritten..
I saw exactly the same rhetoric in the 1960s. My parents were part of the radical right of the time. The New Left and the counterculture were the progressives they reacted against. I had my own little closet I lived in until I was able to move to California.
I now live in both the MAGA conservative and progressive worlds.. I am probably most comfortable in a socially liberal but fiscally conservative environment. I do not know where that is to be found. I'm vaguely libertarian in sentiment.
To this day, my surviving relatives have not moved on from an isolationist hyperconservative stance. They live in "rural white poverty." They won't change until their very real needs are addressed.
I agree with you about our politicians being symptoms of social sentiment. They only get to where they are if we enable them.
I've been fortunate to have traveled slowly through much of the US and can picture the scene you paint of rural white poverty. Thank you for sharing it.
I always enjoy your posts, Alia, but this one made me think more than most. I’ve pretty much always been troubled by this tendency towards polarity, in society at large and politics in particular – but it’s very hard not to get caught up in it to some degree, particularly when one feels passionate about an injustice. Discomfort with the lack of nuance and excess of zeal has led me to distance myself even from the progressive politics which I once thought of as my spiritual home.
I almost always end up creating characters who are grappling with complex issues in a nuanced way, and more acted upon than acting. I’m not sure this always makes for good fiction, but I guess it’s a way for me to set my little world to rights.
Thank you for bringing more grist to the mill, and actually helping to resolve an issue I was grappling with in Blind Spot, about a character’s reaction to an incident. I felt it was too wishy washy, but you’ve reminded me that it’s not 😊
Thank you, Steve. I'm glad it has helped in some way. Complex characters are always my favourite. I think they make for the best fiction.
Yes, polarisation is frustrating. It often sparks arguments (rather than debate), which is why people censor themselves with silence. There's so much more to this story too. I didn't even get into how binary thinking is used deliberately to manipulate and control. As the old saying goes, divide and conquer.
I turn to my recording of Under Milk Wood often (the Richard Burton one), and I like the way you’ve used it here to illustrate the non-binary nature of humanity, the complexity, the richness. When I try to tell people what it is, I use the “play for voices”, but my mouth wants to say “epic poem” or “opera” or “spoken music” or… I don’t know, “Just listen to it, it’s wonderful”. And whenever it’s mentioned I turn to it again - I’m sure it’ll now get another listen in the next few days. Thank-you.
It is wonderful, isn't it. And it is everything you describe. I was almost not going to call it a poem knowing it is always referred to as 'a play for voices' but it is so much more poetic than what passes for modern poetry. Perhaps if it were written today, it would be considered a poem.
Another well-considered piece of quality writing. I appreciate the "why" that you dig up and describe; I always enjoy learning more. What struck me was that, in the "coercion" (fantastic word in this context, btw) of society to pick a side and be binary, it helps explain—but not excuse—why it is so difficult for some to accept the non-binariness of people. I guess for some it's just too much, too uncomfortable, too complex, in short—too hard. But in this world, there are scarcely any absolutes, so get comfortable with the vast in-between and hug the gray: it's where live is.
You’re right, it absolutely doesn’t excuse, but helps us to understand the mess of things. Of course, many other factors, more than can be discussed in a short essay, interweave into splitting. And I haven’t even touched on how those who understand it use it to manipulate. It’s rife in politics, sometimes intentionally, and other times as a result of oversimplifying messages to sell an agenda.
I’m glad you enjoyed the piece, Kate, and thanks for the restack.
Yes, “the mess of things” is a good way to put it. The more people understand, the more we can all be more accepting. You are most welcome for the restacks! 😊
In the military there is a saying, "Second place is the first place loser." If you view life as a series of existential battles, it makes sense.
Consider an American election where second place gets you nothing. Or in the movie Highlander, where the entire plot is summed up by, "There can only be one!"
Right now American politics has settled into a binary conflict between the MAGA right and the Progressive left. Both believe that compromise equals defeat. It is an arm wrestling match, devoid of reason or middle ground. "We must crush our enemies and make sure their heretical beliefs are expunged from the common culture!" It is not far from a Holy War and we all know what happens to compassion and reason in those.
Thanks for sharing the military viewpoint, Fred. It's quite horrid, isn't it, but I suppose that's the mentality governments need their fighters to have if they plan to send them into war. They need to arouse hate because people won't fight their friends.
The state of US politics (and the legal system) is very sad, and it's having a huge influence on politics around the world with Trump copycat politicians making the most of an emboldened far right. It will be interesting to see where the world is in 20 years from now.
Trump is the symptom and not the disease. Ditto all the other populist-fascist movements. Political change is happening faster them social and cultural change. This caused a counter-reaction which energized the politically apathetic. Politicians and influencers take advantage of sentiments and fan the flames. They don't create the sentiment. There has to be a sensitive nerve in a large population for them to strike.
There is a very large demographic that has not moved on from the 1950s.. (The folks from the 1950s have morphed into today's MAGA movement.) There is also a radically opposed progressive/woke movement that rocketed ahead in political power. The MAGA crowd view progressives as an existential threat, both personally and nationally. They are desperate to stop what they see as the US equivalent of the the Fall of Rome. Progressives view conservatives in general as troglodytes to be overruled and MAGA in particular as something to be expunged and overwritten..
I saw exactly the same rhetoric in the 1960s. My parents were part of the radical right of the time. The New Left and the counterculture were the progressives they reacted against. I had my own little closet I lived in until I was able to move to California.
I now live in both the MAGA conservative and progressive worlds.. I am probably most comfortable in a socially liberal but fiscally conservative environment. I do not know where that is to be found. I'm vaguely libertarian in sentiment.
To this day, my surviving relatives have not moved on from an isolationist hyperconservative stance. They live in "rural white poverty." They won't change until their very real needs are addressed.
I agree with you about our politicians being symptoms of social sentiment. They only get to where they are if we enable them.
I've been fortunate to have traveled slowly through much of the US and can picture the scene you paint of rural white poverty. Thank you for sharing it.
I always enjoy your posts, Alia, but this one made me think more than most. I’ve pretty much always been troubled by this tendency towards polarity, in society at large and politics in particular – but it’s very hard not to get caught up in it to some degree, particularly when one feels passionate about an injustice. Discomfort with the lack of nuance and excess of zeal has led me to distance myself even from the progressive politics which I once thought of as my spiritual home.
I almost always end up creating characters who are grappling with complex issues in a nuanced way, and more acted upon than acting. I’m not sure this always makes for good fiction, but I guess it’s a way for me to set my little world to rights.
Thank you for bringing more grist to the mill, and actually helping to resolve an issue I was grappling with in Blind Spot, about a character’s reaction to an incident. I felt it was too wishy washy, but you’ve reminded me that it’s not 😊
Thank you, Steve. I'm glad it has helped in some way. Complex characters are always my favourite. I think they make for the best fiction.
Yes, polarisation is frustrating. It often sparks arguments (rather than debate), which is why people censor themselves with silence. There's so much more to this story too. I didn't even get into how binary thinking is used deliberately to manipulate and control. As the old saying goes, divide and conquer.
I turn to my recording of Under Milk Wood often (the Richard Burton one), and I like the way you’ve used it here to illustrate the non-binary nature of humanity, the complexity, the richness. When I try to tell people what it is, I use the “play for voices”, but my mouth wants to say “epic poem” or “opera” or “spoken music” or… I don’t know, “Just listen to it, it’s wonderful”. And whenever it’s mentioned I turn to it again - I’m sure it’ll now get another listen in the next few days. Thank-you.
It is wonderful, isn't it. And it is everything you describe. I was almost not going to call it a poem knowing it is always referred to as 'a play for voices' but it is so much more poetic than what passes for modern poetry. Perhaps if it were written today, it would be considered a poem.
Another well-considered piece of quality writing. I appreciate the "why" that you dig up and describe; I always enjoy learning more. What struck me was that, in the "coercion" (fantastic word in this context, btw) of society to pick a side and be binary, it helps explain—but not excuse—why it is so difficult for some to accept the non-binariness of people. I guess for some it's just too much, too uncomfortable, too complex, in short—too hard. But in this world, there are scarcely any absolutes, so get comfortable with the vast in-between and hug the gray: it's where live is.
You’re right, it absolutely doesn’t excuse, but helps us to understand the mess of things. Of course, many other factors, more than can be discussed in a short essay, interweave into splitting. And I haven’t even touched on how those who understand it use it to manipulate. It’s rife in politics, sometimes intentionally, and other times as a result of oversimplifying messages to sell an agenda.
I’m glad you enjoyed the piece, Kate, and thanks for the restack.
Yes, “the mess of things” is a good way to put it. The more people understand, the more we can all be more accepting. You are most welcome for the restacks! 😊