Is America getting meaner?
The Gray Area with Sean Illing
The Illusion of Morality and the Politics of Recognition
In a healthy society, the politics of redistribution is practiced, with discussions on tax rates and resource allocation. However, our current political climate is focused on recognition, where people seek leaders who will humiliate the other side and affirm their own. When individuals lack a moral system, they turn to politics for the illusion of morality. Politics offers a moral landscape, dividing people into good and bad guys, and provides the illusion of moral action through indignation towards the other side. It also creates the illusion of community, but in reality, it promotes hatred towards the same people rather than caring for one another. This form of social therapy is fundamentally flawed, as it does not truly alleviate the amoral loneliness but instead perpetuates a culture war.
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