Polarization of a Community: Us vs Them

As one watches the destruction of one’s community the need to know who is at the core of it materializes. Who is it pulling the strings that is triggering this to all happen? Who benefits the most to have an elected official thrown out of office? Who benefits from public humiliation? Who benefits from the hatred dripping from once kind mouths that shriek at those who oppose their viewpoint? Who stands to benefit from spreading lies that someone’s a crook, someone else a thief, another corrupt? Who does their best work with lies, innuendo and gossip?

The process called polarization causes neutral parties to take sides in a conflict. Individuals on either side of the conflict take increasingly extreme positions that are more and more opposed to each other. As parties move toward these opposite "poles," they define themselves in terms of their opposition to a common enemy. Slowly at first and then more rapidly "distorted perceptions and simplified stereotypes emerge" while trust and respect diminish. Parties refuse to negotiate and assume more rigid positions.

Polarization is caused by a number of related psychological, sociological, and political processes. Damaging the relationship between the adversaries, as conflict escalates, is the emergence of enemy images and stereotypes. Important lines of communication and interaction that are normal to peaceful relationships are cut off, and trust diminishes. The more each party involved attributes their grievances to the other side, they more often they likely to reduce the number of non-conflictual relations and interactions that they have with the other party.

Adversaries become increasingly isolated from each other, and all inter-group communication is channeled through more antagonistic lenses. As the parties begin to have fewer and fewer ties to individuals from the other group, they begin to feel freer to employ more severe actions against that group. There is a tendency of the participants to “win” the bystanders to their side, often forcing people to chose with the "with us or against us" mentality, aggravating group isolation and polarization. The conflict intensifies as more people are drawn into the conflict.

Those who would normally urge moderation and attempt to mediate the conflict are recruited by participants in the controversy, and forced to take sides. The moderate position is not tolerated with their proponents ostracized at best, or seen as traitors to the cause at worst. Further segregation, as the process continues, results in relationships with outsiders becoming increasingly hostile and competitive.

The polarization of this community is heart wrenching. Watching once good friends turn their backs on one another, families raked over the coals, and people's reputations destroyed is more than a community should stand for. Smart, intelligent people allowing themselves to be led, to be pulled apart and destroy their own community. Who will be left standing? That’s what we should be asking ourselves.