I keep mulling over the cultural psychology studies on what holds societies together. I am increasingly worried that we may have already crossed the point of no return for our American experiment. Looking at groups that identify themselves as "us"--from sports teams to civilizations--that …
I keep mulling over the cultural psychology studies on what holds societies together. I am increasingly worried that we may have already crossed the point of no return for our American experiment. Looking at groups that identify themselves as "us"--from sports teams to civilizations--that remain stable and cohesive over long periods of time they share a similar characteristic. There is consensus about answers to a core list of existential questions. These include the origin story--where and how did we get here? what distinguishes our way of life from their way of life"? what justifies the unequal distribution of goods, privilege and power? what qualifies someone as a member--are we naked apes, incarnated souls,have a penis? born to a particular clan? 60% wetware? or something else? There are more but these are core and universal and people must answer them to feel like they belong to "us" and life makes sense. There are gazillion forms of groups with their own sense of self and culturally agreed upon answers. We will see these processes on display on Superbowl Sunday, in the US Senate, in Gaza and anywhere where people refer to themselves and fellows as "we.". Studies also reveal that whether they live in open or closed societies disagreement inevitably surfaces so to maintain stability and social order there must be agreed upon processes for resolving dissidence. It seems obvious to me that in the last decades social consensus about the existential questions has all but collapsed. A Christian white nationalist has a very different set of answers than does a member of Black Lives Matter and both believe their answers are the right ones. We no longer develop our individual or social identities from shared answers to these questions and so we are unable to recognize the other side as "us." Empathy is a threat. This is not a political divide, it is existential and it is getting worse egged on by social manipulators who have monetized and egotized the divide. And even more menacing , we no longer respect and are willing to abide by the agreed upon established mechanisms for resolving disputes--SCOTUS, the rule of law,the institutions required in a diverse democracy like a free press, higher education, free and fair elections. When you have those in power referring to a "post-Constitutional order with no pushback from Senators there is no way back from here.We have broken the existential consensus. This is not a matter of deserving democracy. It is more a matter of facing how deep the rift goes and the fact that we are unwilling to surrender our individual vision of America and do the work on every level to arrive at a more truthful new consensus about the existential questions.
Jan K , thank you for joining me in my fog of (culture) war. In my view there is no answer yet to where the eff we are going. But I think it is the personal, relational and political work of our era. We must tell each other the truth and listen as we seek a new consensus. I am as lost as you but I live my life with faith but not certainty that we can survive the storm if we don’t abandon each other.🌹🎶
I've been asking myself this every day lately. Not in so many words. You are much more articulate. But how do we get back from here? And where in the eff are we going?
Forgive the long post. I couldn't rein myself in.
I keep mulling over the cultural psychology studies on what holds societies together. I am increasingly worried that we may have already crossed the point of no return for our American experiment. Looking at groups that identify themselves as "us"--from sports teams to civilizations--that remain stable and cohesive over long periods of time they share a similar characteristic. There is consensus about answers to a core list of existential questions. These include the origin story--where and how did we get here? what distinguishes our way of life from their way of life"? what justifies the unequal distribution of goods, privilege and power? what qualifies someone as a member--are we naked apes, incarnated souls,have a penis? born to a particular clan? 60% wetware? or something else? There are more but these are core and universal and people must answer them to feel like they belong to "us" and life makes sense. There are gazillion forms of groups with their own sense of self and culturally agreed upon answers. We will see these processes on display on Superbowl Sunday, in the US Senate, in Gaza and anywhere where people refer to themselves and fellows as "we.". Studies also reveal that whether they live in open or closed societies disagreement inevitably surfaces so to maintain stability and social order there must be agreed upon processes for resolving dissidence. It seems obvious to me that in the last decades social consensus about the existential questions has all but collapsed. A Christian white nationalist has a very different set of answers than does a member of Black Lives Matter and both believe their answers are the right ones. We no longer develop our individual or social identities from shared answers to these questions and so we are unable to recognize the other side as "us." Empathy is a threat. This is not a political divide, it is existential and it is getting worse egged on by social manipulators who have monetized and egotized the divide. And even more menacing , we no longer respect and are willing to abide by the agreed upon established mechanisms for resolving disputes--SCOTUS, the rule of law,the institutions required in a diverse democracy like a free press, higher education, free and fair elections. When you have those in power referring to a "post-Constitutional order with no pushback from Senators there is no way back from here.We have broken the existential consensus. This is not a matter of deserving democracy. It is more a matter of facing how deep the rift goes and the fact that we are unwilling to surrender our individual vision of America and do the work on every level to arrive at a more truthful new consensus about the existential questions.
Jan K , thank you for joining me in my fog of (culture) war. In my view there is no answer yet to where the eff we are going. But I think it is the personal, relational and political work of our era. We must tell each other the truth and listen as we seek a new consensus. I am as lost as you but I live my life with faith but not certainty that we can survive the storm if we don’t abandon each other.🌹🎶
I've been asking myself this every day lately. Not in so many words. You are much more articulate. But how do we get back from here? And where in the eff are we going?