About polarization

One of my favorite topics and among the biggest problems in the world is polarization. This is not a reference to the field of physics, but about the tensions we can see build up in between people and different factions of people. Blacks versus whites, women versus men, left versus right, Christianity versus Islam, and so on. Some tension and even fighting among these groups is understandable and natural, and can even be healthy for a society to grow. Without any effort made entire continents might never have been discovered, or how could the western women ever have gotten any basic rights without some form of fighting? In some cases even oppression of some groups has guided the humanity towards great growth.

With too much of that tension, however, our western societies have grown hyperpolarized. Symptoms of this include being reluctant to partake in a conversation of a certain topic, or getting shut out because of having an opinion which can be deemed wrong in the eyes of society. The latter is also known as the cancel culture, which in itself is completely vile, destructive, and shows no respect towards basic human rights. Why would any sensible being nowadays risk public exposure in discussions concerning topics such as immigration, women's rights, or politics? The current atmosphere is encouraging only those stupid, crazy, or extreme enough to voice their opinions out loud. With only these extremes doing the talking, the discussion will obviously become even more polarized.

Risk management was something I pondered greatly when writing my book about the decline of western society. Publishing a book under my own name will expose me as a person, and the topics I write about are in many cases completely banned from many forums – both in real life as well as online. What helped me summon up the courage was the fact that openly talking about these topics is the only way to effectively fight polarization. By silencing you are in fact accepting cancel culture and polarization. By speaking up you are rebelling against them, but at the cost of some risk that is involved. Publicly speaking about these forbidden topics may cause some people to act against you in life.

Are you willing to take that chance?