The Dying Art of Disagreement

Political polarization is a defining feature of contemporary American politics. Republicans have become more right-leaning and Democrats more left-leaning since the late 1990s. Americans are also more likely to associate with and live near their fellow partisans and to consume news from sources that echo their political preferences.

“Our disagreements may frequently hoarsen our voices, but they rarely sharpen our thinking, much less change our minds.”

The problem, however, isn’t that Americans disagree about a wide range of issues. The problem is that they no longer engage and debate their differing viewpoints. Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, and other great thinkers of Western civilization developed their groundbreaking ideas by questioning and quarreling with their intellectual adversaries. To do so, they needed to understand the ideas of their opponents and remain open to the possibility of changing their minds in the process. A liberal education teaches these critical thinking and debating skills, which are vital for democracies to thrive. 

“In recent years, identity politics have become the moated castles from which we safeguard our feelings from hurt and our opinions from challenge.”

Unfortunately, US public schools are pushing civic education to the sidelines, leaving students with little appreciation for basic civil rights, including the right to free speech. In fact, free speech and debate are under attack on American college campuses. According to one survey, 51% of college students find it “acceptable” to heckle a speaker with a different opinion, and 20% of respondents condone the use of violence to silence a speaker. Some of America’s most prestigious liberal arts colleges have recently experienced both types of incidents. The rise of identity politics on college campuses and beyond has exacerbated Americans’ reluctance to discuss their opinions with people who don’t share them. For fear of offending somebody or being labeled a “bigot,” Americans thus deprive themselves of the opportunity to test their opinions and find solutions through vigorous debate. 

“What makes our disagreements so toxic is that we refuse to make eye contact with our opponents, or try to see things as they might, or find some middle ground.”

The media today both mirror and reinforce America’s political polarization. Even-handed reporting has given way to promoting partisan viewpoints. Yet the media can provide a platform for genuine debate and discussion. They have an important civic function in educating the public about the facts underlining political arguments, representing different viewpoints fairly and questioning common assumptions. To keep democracy alive, media owners and publishers need to “revive the art of disagreement.”