Trump/Biden, and making the shouting stop.

I wrote a piece after the election four years ago, and honestly, that piece feels just as salient and accurate today.

So much of what I've read and felt in the run-up framed the election as a repudiation or endorsement of Trump's brand of populism. From the left, he stood for racism. From the right, he stood for nationalism.

But as I've stared at election maps, I've been struck by the same realization I wrote about four years ago: this is mostly about urban vs rural. Cities, even in deep red states, are blue. Rural areas, even in deep blue states, are red. Covid amplified these differences, but they've been there, year after year.

Yes, those groups of people are increasingly getting different information, from different sources. But there are smart people with good hearts in cities and smart people with good hearts in the countryside. They just want different things from government. Everything else - all the craziness on top of that - is theatre and politics.

From my distant, island perspective, the one concerning trend is that news and entertainment continue to merge. In the US particularly, there's economic value to a political crisis, and for media outlets still struggling to survive in the internet age, panic and rage mean clicks - and clicks mean staying in business.

By in large, I think the media is made of good people who believe what they're writing and saying. There are absolutely provocateurs all across the idealogicial spectrum. But the bulk of the media is made up of folks trying their best, people who genuinely went into journalism because they cared.

But our cognitive biases are real. Our brains work in their own funny ways. What got us riled up and clicking yesterday and the day before won't work after a while, and we lose interest. So the stakes get higher and higher, stories more outrageous and provocative.

And when everyone is consuming sharp, inflammatory stories rooted in conflicting world views, there's not much room for a reasoned middle ground.

I want to be clear - there are real moral issues in play. Institutional racism is real. Privilege is real. No society on earth is equal and fair. There are actual tensions where folks who have more are being asked to give things up for folks who have less. There are tensions between freedom and harmony. All true.

But I don't think 50% of the US is made up of racist assholes who hate all black and brown bodies. And I don't think that 50% of the US is made up of radical anarchists bent on destroying government and basic freedoms. Most people - upwards of 90%, I'd guess - are normal, everyday folks who agree on all of the big stuff.

I've had this conversation with friends in the US, and broadly, I'm written off as hopelessly naïve. But it's worth noting that here in New Zealand, where shouty, clickbait-y media is shamed and written off as being too "look at me", we don't have many of these problems. There is still a fringe of yelling, angry people on both sides. They mostly hang out on twitter. But most folks here - all across the spectrum - are keen to talk through the issues, comfortable with agreeing to disagree and letting it come out in the vote.

Disagreements and conflicting constiutiencies are not antithetical to democracy. They're the point of it.

So my takeway, if I have one from this little soapbox is this - the shouting stops when we stop listening to it. If you're on social media, get off of it and replace it with meaningful connection or a proper hobby. Chat with your neighbors (when it's safe.) Support journalism that makes you curious and interested and learn things, instead of trying to convince you of a perspective. Support things that treat you with respect, that make you feel empathy instead of anger. It's the wolf you feed that wins.

Those are my two cents. But hey, nobody said you should listen to me. :)

Big hugs and much solidarity to you, regardless of where you stand. More than ever, we're all in this together.

-Steven