Thread by @1JoshGreenberg

THREAD

POLARIZATION AS AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT

While Biden’s victory is thrilling, the difficult truth is that our country remains as polarized as ever. Take a moment to review the rhetoric emanating from the opposing side, and this fact will be obvious.

1/20

Moreover, while we keep hearing that “the people have spoken,” Biden won with just 51 percent of the popular vote. Many citizens who did not vote for Biden remain adamantly opposed to him.

2/20

While it is enticing to gloat in the victory of one’s political tribe, we also need to swallow a dose of reality and remain focused on the road ahead.

The electoral triumph is a critical first step in paving a better future—but that is all.

3/20

Not only does a strategy to legally subvert the election remain within reach for Trump, but our nation’s polarization also persists, posing an existential threat to all American lives.

4/20

newsweek.com/how-trump-coul…

This polarization is likely only to be amplified by the disinformation campaign that Trump has launched against the election.

Yet, most citizens are not even able to step outside of the groupthink of their political tribes to see our country’s polarization for what it is.

5/20

In the end, a society with two tribes that have entirely different conceptions of reality—no matter if one is "right" and the other is "wrong"—cannot survive.

6/20

Indeed, for many years now, owing to major structural inequities, our country has been on an unsustainable course. Looking ahead, it is not evident that our sociopolitical system—already pushed to the brink—will be able to withstand the presumed stress of these coming months.

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In fact, scientific evidence on social collapse, from scholars such as @Peter_Turchin, strongly suggests that our country is on the path to civil conflict.

8/20

journals.plos.org/plosone/articl…

The exact point in time at which such conflict may erupt is up for debate, but our country’s overall course remains deeply troubling.

9/20

So no matter how much we may rejoice that Biden has won the election and that we have defeated Trump by more than 4 million votes, our country’s trajectory is unlikely to change. Merely outnumbering the opponent will not forestall violent conflict.

10/20

Ignorance of these truths will continue to be to our peril. No matter how righteous our causes may be, they will mean nothing if we no longer exist.

In our pursuit of justice, we therefore cannot afford to lose sight of the equally important pursuit of unity.

11/20

We must pursue a unifying justice.

Our central concern cannot be about political tribe—for we are humans and Americans first and foremost. So while we celebrate Biden’s victory, we cannot truly rejoice when our country remains severed in two halves.

12/20

Rather than tribe, our focus must be on achieving social welfare for our society—and, most of all, on doing so in a fashion that upholds our society’s longevity.

13/20

Aside from claiming mere political victory, concern for our continued existence and social cohesion should be a selfish interest of us all.

14/20

In the short-term, I will only rejoice if and when Trump concedes, and if and when Biden is officially sworn in on January 20. Even then, I will not fully rejoice until we build a society that is firmly grounded on truth, justice, equality, freedom, unity, and peace.

15/20

Who will be brave enough to stop denying our hard social truths and to attempt to bridge our society’s fissures, even at this late moment?

16/20

Correcting our country’s course will require all of us to come together to rediscover the threads of unity. It will be the most profound of challenges.

17/20

But now, more than ever—as a minimal first step toward that end—we must exercise the courage for a concerted effort to achieve peace, non-violence, and de-escalation of conflict.

18/20

After all, the reciprocal dehumanization that we are currently witnessing in our country will never be a winning strategy over the course of history.

19/20

For more in-depth analysis of these issues, HOW WE GOT HERE tells the story of how we arrived at this point of crisis and provides a strategic, moral vision for our future—all freely available via the Medium friend links in this thread.

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https://twitter.com/1JoshGreenberg/status/1313296081489260544