Our Collective Information Problem
We are one beautiful country, founded on the most noble of ideals. Let's get together and feel alright.
CALLING FOR INCIVILITY AND PARTISAN HATE TO STOP
Welcome to the first Kitchen Table Talk blog. Kitchen Table Talk came into existence as a way for ordinary people to resist the unpleasant changes that have taken over the United States. Friends can’t talk to friends, families can’t celebrate a holiday without arguments, and strangers hurl insults and accusations at each other every second. A cauldron of anger, hate, and distrust boils over every day, largely because of the ways we assimilate, view, and treat current events and other people who may hold opposing political views or live in a different part of the country or have a different lifestyle.
Polarization and Partisan Bubbles
While polarization is a global problem, it’s worse in the US. We have more, louder, and more-partisan news outlets than other countries. As a result, too many of us dwell in information bubbles which reinforce what we already think and make us angry. Especially, and very dangerously, online, where nobody knows our name and we can say hateful things with impunity (or so we think— hatefulness breeds hate and widens divides and doesn’t do much for our character).
We’ve created echo chambers by self-selecting what we hear or read or what we will take in or hear. Social media algorithms and the media have also created echo chambers for us. MSNBC wine moms and Fox gun enthusiasts, for example, can remain ensconced in their own self-reinforcing ecosystems, each side content in their resentment of the other as wrong, stupid, selfish, and ill-informed.
“Alternate Facts” Create Problems
When either side, or someone from a different camp, or no camp, ventures out, we often repeat or shout “facts” we’ve received from slanted sources. We distrust the “facts” that our political opponents throw at us. We’ve ingested the exact opposite “facts”, after all. Often, the people with whom we disagree seem full of hate. Meanwhile, we brim with rage. Then, we retreat back to our own comfortable spaces, soothed by others who know what we say is the truth.
But “alternate facts” cannot and do not co-exist. These arguments are not sustainable or winnable, and nor is failure to engage positively or to address the real issues facing the United States. But many of us don’t know how to, and often don’t try to, discern fact from fiction or spin.
We’re simply overwhelmed by too much information, much of it bad, and dug into our resentful ruts. As a result, we and our country flail in a virtual, hyper-partisan world, descending ever downward. The result: lack of trust, increased anger, violence, and discord.
That’s not okay.
Our Enemies Spread Disinformation
Allowing these destructive patterns to continue and multiply plays into the plans of our actual enemies. Many anti-democracy and authoritarian countries wish the United States and its allies harm, and relish watching Americans fighting each other. We’ve fallen into their trap. Some of the misinformation and disinformation flying around emanates from these countries, and more is sure to come. They are our real enemies, not other Americans.
At all levels of society, from the East Coast to the West Coast and in between, we need better communication, more trust, and access to and agreement about methods for determining what is true. We need to regain trust, and a basic core, shared understanding of how to proceed and how to treat each other. Only we, the American people, have the power to create this change, and we must, before it’s too late.
