Polarization in the U.S. didn’t rise gradually. A new machine-learning study shows it surged after 2008- but why?

Polarization in the U.S. didn’t rise gradually. A new machine-learning study shows it surged after 2008- but why?

  • moonshadow@slrpnk.net
    10·
    6 hours ago

    You people blame Obama

    I blame the soon to be revealed Cambridge Analytica-esque data-driven societal engineering techniques

    We are not the same

  • I_Jedi@lemmy.todayEnglish
    251·
    13 hours ago

    Lots of reasons 2008 would do this.

    • First black president
    • People losing their houses and jobs due to financial crash
    • Proliferation of smartphones and the Internet (remember dial-up?)
    • 1dalm@lemmings.world
      9·
      12 hours ago

      I think you should also include the Iraq War. Evangelicals set a lot of their identity in their belief that the War on Terror would be the final Holy War that would bring about the Kingdom of Christ (with them at the top, of course). But instead their holy war turned into an undeniable catastrophe in front of their eyes.

      And also Jesus didn’t come back like he was supposed to.

      • fodor@lemmy.zip
        2·
        7 hours ago

        And it’s really hard to overstate the significance of that war. The vast majority of Washington politicians and the vast majority of mainstream media outlets explicitly endorsed it as being just, they were all proven as liars before it even started and certainly after the fact, and very few of them apologized for the massive amounts of deaths that they caused. They never will apologize, they can’t deal with that, their pride won’t let them.

    • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.worldEnglish
      82·
      12 hours ago

      I’m thinking so much of it was the first one.

      And when we say “polarization”, I’m sure that’s a bothsiderist way to say: “Republicans/conservatives getting even more crazy”.

      • I_Jedi@lemmy.todayEnglish
        7·
        12 hours ago

        The effect of economic turmoil should not be underestimated. “That guy over there took my house” would boost polarization for sure.

    • human@slrpnk.net
      33·
      15 hours ago

      A black man who was also the first Democratic president after the rise of Fox News. They were obnoxious enough with W in the white house, but then Obama was elected and the circus really started.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.worldEnglish
        20·
        12 hours ago

        Faux (started in 1996) and hate radio spent a good deal of the 90s trying to take down Clinton. He totally consumed the right wing. Hillary was not wrong when she talked about a vast right wing conspiracy.

        Oh, and it surely didn’t help them get any less crazy when people were referring to Clinton as the first black President.

        I think years of this hateful nonsense and conspiracy theories really came to a head when they watched W flame out to the point that they constructed a fake movement, originally called teabaggers, to pretend they weren’t Republicans. The economy cratered at the end of W’s reign, the Iraq War was shown to be the quagmire all the liberals told them it was going to be, and now a black man who they were told was a Kenyan usurper was here to clean up the mess.

        The fact that most normal Americans really rather liked him drove them all the crazier.

        • human@slrpnk.net
          6·
          12 hours ago

          True, the radio shows were definitely filling that role. The idea that the TV networks were left leaning was a big talking point for them.

          I know Fox started in '96 and they were definitely already nuts with the “fair and balanced” stuff, but at least to me it felt like it picked up a lot of viewership during the Bush administration.

          • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            10 hours ago

            I seem to recall they were in the red for the first N years (5?) of their operation, so you very well may be right that they started getting more traction later on.

            IIRC, Cheney mandated them in certain venues, which probably didn’t hurt.

    • artifex@piefed.socialOPEnglish
      11·
      15 hours ago

      I feel like it’s a toss up between this (old-school racism) and occupy wall street looking too scary to the bigwigs (who had to amplify racism and invent “woke” as a new wedge)

    • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      12 hours ago

      Bingo.

      The Republicans/conservatives have always had a dark undercurrent and plenty of crazy in their midst and heaps of racism. They started to really rip that mask off when Obama was elected.

      Then Pedonald started up with being King of the Birthers and we were really on our way…

  • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
    172·
    14 hours ago

    US citizens elected a change candidate who then proceeded to bail out the banks while people were going homeless, and the followed it up by handing over healthcare to insurance companies.

    Obama jaded a generation out of the concept that progress could be made through politics. They became ample fodder for the nativist/ auth right movements which would follow.

    • yonderbarn@lazysoci.al
      1·
      6 hours ago

      The man made bank post presidency earning lucrative Netflix and Spotify deals and hanging out on Richard Branson’s yacht.

      Just goes to show you which side he was on when banks went under

  • GutterRat42@lemmy.world
    101·
    14 hours ago

    “But why?”

    Easy, a black guy became president and conservatives lost their fucking minds.

  • Novis@lemdro.idEnglish
    21·
    14 hours ago

    First black president- United States loses it’s mind Find out covid is killing poor black people more than white people- America loses it’s mind and calls mask mandates fascist Find out social programs benefit black and brown people- America calls them welfare queens and demands investigations and budget cuts. Sounds about racist America to me.