What Is the Difference Between Uniform and Cross Cutting Forms of Polarization?

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

In the old days, seltik and nick fans maybe hated each other. Is that gone? Does anyone even care? I don't knowa i all just watch gifts on an twitter as i've been in the book,. i am not now, and never have been, a sportsman. But here's what i'm getting at. It seems many parts of american life are not more polarized, but some parts of politics is more polarized. What makes for the difference?

In his new book, Ezra Klein argues that polarization in America has become centered on partisan political identities, which has subsumed virtually every form of identity, be it where we live, what team we root for, the church we attend, or any other. This stacked form of polarization thus carries much more weight and is activated by a wider range of conflicts than before.

But is polarization really such a pressing concern? If it’s all merged into one form of identity politics then aren’t we just polarizing more efficiently? Over what percentage of GDP are we more polarized today versus in the past?

Tyler posed these questions to Ezra and more, including thoughts on Silicon Valley’s intellectual culture, his disagreement with Jonathan Haidt’s Moral Foundations Theory, the limits of telecommuting, how becoming a father made him less conservative, his post-kid production function, why Manhattan is overrated, the “cosmic embarrassment” of California’s governance, why he loved Marriage Story, the future of the BBC and PBS, what he learned in Pakistan, and more.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

Recorded December 27th, 2019 Other ways to connect

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram
Follow Tyler on Twitter
Follow Ezra on Twitter
Email us: cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu
Subscribe at our newsletter page to have the latest Conversations with Tyler news sent straight to your inbox.