One of the reasons this article struck a chord with me is that I have watched people I know, people who know each other and used to be friends/family/neighbors, go from agreeing to disagree to villanizing and othering one another to a degree I wouldn’t have imagined possible.
While it may never come to armed conflict, there is a polarization that I’m watching play out in small but significant ways. People whose children used to have playdates at the park now see each other’s view of America as an existential threat to their own way of life.
Maybe it is just a tumultuous little bubble of anxiety and those darn algorithms that keep people locked in a feedback loop are playing at people’s worst fears, but to not at least consider it could happen would be a mistake.
There is a great G.K. Chesterton quote that goes, “It is not bigotry to be certain we are right; but it is bigotry to be unable to imagine how we might possibly have gone wrong.” That has been on my mind a lot lately in regards to preparedness.
The more I read about the precursors to violence and war the more I see how easily we could write off the signs until it is too late. And even if this never becomes a reality, identifying where communication is breaking down and *trying* to help the people in our lives avoid othering each other is a useful exercise.