This Is Wrong (Even If It's True)

We're still 10 months away from the election, but already my Facebook feed is stuffed full of divisive memes, like the one above, of dubious origin.  Where did this meme come from?  A University of Chicago researcher?  A Russian hack farm?  A progressive think tank?  An anarchist collective?  A quick Google search indicates that a book titled World Literacy by the authors listed above does in fact exist, but I have no idea if the data listed above is factual or even from the book.  Someone could have just made those numbers up for all I know.

The rub is that even if the stats are true, it doesn't explain the enthusiasm for Trump.  In fact, Trumpists and MAGAs that I know cite the exact same kind of evidence to explain the existence of Bernie Bros and the Yang Gang.   My conservative friends are convinced that if the electorate were  just to receive some basic education in economics, they'd understand that it's impossible to get free health care and free college education without getting taxed to death.  On top of that, they argue, candidate Andrew Yang is not only promising all of that "free stuff," but is even saying that in addition everyone will get monthly $1,000 checks from the government, and when asked how the nation will afford all that, he just says "Math" without explaining things any further.

Both sides of the political spectrum have made up their minds and, once decided, we find the facts and figures to support our views, not the other way around.  The news and social media then provide us the anecdotes and peer support we need to reinforce our views..  Both sides are convinced that the other side is at best hopelessly naive and at worst willfully stupid.  

But calling each other "stupid" and "uneducated" and "illiterate" won't bridge the divide separating us.  How are we ever going to get together and realize any progress in this great country of ours if we alienate those who don't agree with us?  Without civil discourse, we will either be governed though brute force by whichever party is in power, or we will dissolve into disunity and chaos.

But based on what I've seen so far, I don't expect us to take up civil discourse any time soon.

On another note (file this under "Decisions I Will Probably Come To Regret"), the music blog (Music Dissolves Water) is back up and running!