Polarized! The Case for Civility in the Time of Trump Audiobook by Jeff Rasley
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Title: Polarized! The Case for Civility in the Time of Trump
Subtitle: An Experiment in Civil Discourse on Facebook
Author: Jeff Rasley
Narrator: Gregg Robinson
Format: Unabridged
Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
Language: English
Release date: 12-15-17
Publisher: Midsummer Books
Genres: Nonfiction, Politics
Publisher's Summary:
In a culture of outrage and siloing, social media is the go-to place to attack and to hide. Users rant and vent, and they huddle in like-minded silos. Social media encourages impulsive and angry responses to tweets or posts that irritate us. It also allows us to avoid challenges to our conventional wisdom. We can block, unfriend, and hunker down in private groups. Social media has so far aggravated, rather than helped to cure, ideological polarization and partisanship.
Is there a higher and better use?
Facebook is the largest forum in the history of humankind for free and open communication among citizens. It can be used to engage in meaningful conversations about important political, social, and economic issues. The choice is ours to make.
As is demonstrated in Jeff Rasley's latest book, regular folks can use their social networks for civil discussion and debate, and then for positive political action. Or, they can follow the lead of President Trump to tweet insults and ridicule political opponents. Who do we want to be as a nation?
The Case for Civility exposes the causes and effects of hyper-partisanship. It offers a "modest proposal" to treat the symptoms of toxic polarization using social media. An experiment in Facebook based on the values of civility, tolerance, pragmatism, and moderation proves there is a cure.
Rasley is the author of nine other books, including Godless - Living a Valuable Life Beyond Beliefs and Bringing Progress to Paradise, a memoir about adventure and philanthropy in the Nepal Himalayas.
Members Reviews:
Reading it was good for my health.
Rasley points out in his book that to understand those on the other side of the political divide we need to engage in respectful rational discourse. The simple task is to treat each other as adult human beings. Is that really so difficult? Have we regressed into angry kids misbehaving in the playground? But when it comes to Facebook, we silo ourselves into same-thinking people and donât even listen to the other side. How many people have you unfriended in Facebook because you donât agree with their politics? How many of you belong to closed groups that rant to each other about issues that you all agree on? Whatâs the point? After reading the book, I decided to do my own experiment and stop posting or re-posting thoughts that weren't clearly thought out or substantiated. It's made Facebook more interesting and challenging and lowered my blood pressure--all good things.
Ah, Facebook! Ah, Social Media! Ah, Bartleby!
âSorry to sound like a self-righteous scold, but a lifestyle lived primarily through a screen and keyboard is surely contributing as much to the obesity epidemic as fast foods and sugary beverages." Quote from Ch.IV of âPolarizedâ
Mr. Rasley is no "self-righteous scold" and I am no philosopher and I am no student of philosophy, nor am I a sociologist, and while I use Facebook, I am well aware of the need to divide my time so I can still live a life away from it. However, there are millions of people using it and millions of people using other social media and if the numbers are anything to go by, many people spend more time on social media than they ever did watching television. In the past, 4 to 6 hours a day were spent on TV. Now, some claim more time is taken up with social media. Therefore, Mr.
