Why America Needs Good Conflict: Amanda Ripley

In recent weeks the great American divide grew again. Explosive revelations from the House January 6th Hearings and Supreme Court decisions on abortion, guns and the EPA's ability to limit carbon emissions from power plants are further examples of where the middle has been weakened. On many media platforms nuance is replaced by taunts and jeers. 

Our nation is trapped in high conflict. Both sides are paralyzed by fear and anger as they demonize and misunderstand the actions and motivations of the other. The bitter national narrative of "us versus them" is a threat to democracy and stops Congress and other public institutions from working together to build a better world.

Best-selling author and investigative journalist, Amanda Ripley, is our guest in this repeat episode. She is well-known for her writing in The Atlantic, Time, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. We discuss her groundbreaking book, “High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out."

Amanda argues that good conflict can teach us to be better people, who are capable of solutions as they move past misunderstandings. Many are trapped in high conflict, which is threatening to tear us apart, creating an even deeper crisis than we have now.

We discuss "conflict entrepreneurs"— cable TV personalities, talk radio hosts, and politicians from both left and right — who profit from making us angry and fearful.

"Most Americans want out of this high conflict," Amanda tells How Do We Fix It? "They very much want to see a different way of disagreeing among their politicians and the news media. They are frequently tuning out of politics and the news, which is a big problem, but totally understandable."

Recommendation: Jim enjoyed watching "Long Strange Trip", a highly-praised documentary about the rock band, the Grateful Dead. TV viewers can watch it on Amazon Prime.

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