Dialogue

What, what can possibly be the point of writing a gazillionth post about conservatives wanting to murder poor old ladies and having screwed up brains? Is it a mystery to anybody that at this very moment some conservative is writing this exact same shit about liberals and feeling just as virtuous and superior?

Zygmunt Bauman says in Retrotopia that an increase in feelings of tribalism is a response to the uncertainties and anxiety brought by globalization. He says that we need to resist the urge to convince ourselves that members of another tribe – whatever it may be – are so profoundly different from us that no dialogue can be possible. There is no future, Bauman insists, if we don’t start talking to each other*, no matter how delicious it might be to imagine oneself deeply superior to the opponent. 

* Bauman obviously doesn’t just speak about political factions. Whoever your most detested Other is – a Muslim, a Russian, a Trump supporter, a Rauner voter, a bird-watcher – get over the need to declare your superiority 24 hours a day and dedicate 5 minutes to contemplating your shared humanity.