The Politics of Polarity

From the 6th to the 21st of May 2021, Israel and Hamas engaged in the latest installment of the endless conflict between Israeli state and the Palestinians. It was characterized by protests, riot control actions, rocket launches into Israel from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and retaliatory strikes from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Dozens of Israeli civilians died while over 200 Palestinians lost their lives as a result of this outbreak of violence.

A strange phenomenon was observed during this period of violence. People worldwide rallied to both sides and everyone seemed to take the  most extreme positions possible. For instance any sort of condemnation on the IDF allegedly hitting civilian targets, or the Israeli government’s policy of settling Jews in the West Bank, which renders a two-state solution impractical, was condemned as anti-Semitism by the supporters of Israel. 

On the other hand, justified outrage and condemnation of the indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israel by Hamas, as well as their alleged use of civilians as human shields meant you were the supporter of an “apartheid state”.

Apparently in these modern times everyone is obliged to pick a side between two extremes and there’s no middle ground nor room for nuance. It was common to see unpunctuated takes from zealots with no historic knowledge of the origins of the crisis labeling people as bigots. Even seemingly educated people seemed to forget that this conflict is too nuanced and complex to outrightly pick a side. A lot of people who are probably good humans in real life found themselves cheering the killing of civilians.

How did we get here? How did we get to the point where we’re incapable of having a balanced view of situations? When did it become us versus them?

This binary thinking and polarity is not limited to anonymous people on Twitter. Even the media coverage of the crisis was very different based on which channels one watched the news on. News channels were openly partisan, ignoring the atrocities committed by “their” side while exaggerating those committed by the “other” side.

One gets the feeling a that there’s no middle ground between being a terrorist sympathizer and being Islamophobic. If you’re not a committed Zionist then surely you must be anti-Semitic. This ignores all the Christian Palestinians and all Jews against Zionism. No one pays any attention to Arab Israelis in this polarized world.

Unfortunately as divisive as the the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been, it is by no means the only situation where this herd stupidity has been observed. Recently in what is ostensibly an effort at inclusivity, women have been referred to as “people who menstruate” and “people with cervixes” among others. This has sparked outrage from women which has been countered by outrage from trans people and their allies. Since trans women neither menstruate nor have cervixes any reference to those who do as women excludes them. One risks being called either misogynistic or transphobic if one engages in this debate.

The same thing can be seen with the Black Lives Matter movement and other questions of social justice. One has to adhere to either of the extremes. As a matter of fact any attempt at moderation or rationality is condemned by both sides. It is almost like people cannot fathom someone not being as extreme as them. 

Another example is the age-old battle between capitalism and socialism. One would think there is nothing extremist about advocating for better wages and universal healthcare in first world countries. One would be wrong. Seeking the most modest of regulations to tamper the worst elements of capitalism is apparently the work of wide-eyed socialists and is a slippery slope towards Khmer Rouge levels of atrocities.

On the other hand pointing out the numerous failures of socialist and communist countries as well as the atrocities perpetrated by the likes of Stalin, Mao Zedong and Pol Pot can have one compared to fascists of the ilk Adolf Hitler or Francisco Franco. Actually I doubt too many of these self-proclaimed anti-fascists are interested enough in history to know the Generalissimo. 

Closer to home, any sort of condemnation of Buhari’s policies in Nigeria, or those of Biya in Cameroon or Ramaphosa in South Africa is met with accusations of unpatriotic behaviour. Of course any praise of this regimes is seen as bootlicking sycophancy. It appears like there’s no middle ground between treason and sycophancy. 

As a matter of fact in Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis, any criticism of the government means one is a terrorist sympathizer and a traitor to the nation while questioning the actions of the separatists makes one a supporter of genocide and mass murder. Strange times.

The question then is who benefits from this division? Who is a stakeholder in people perennially engaging in disputes over race, politics, religion, gender, and sexual orientation? And why is the mainstream media fanning the flames of this nonsensical behaviour? Is there some grand conspiracy afoot that needs the people distracted by never-ending polarizing topics while some nefarious activity goes on behind the scenes?

In the US poor blacks and poor blacks almost always vote for opposing candidates in spite of the fact that logically, policies that help poor people will inevitably be beneficial to both poor blacks and whites. Voting along ethnic lines is not limited to the US; one could say it is the norm in most African countries and policies do not matter.

One could posit that the elites world wide use the mainstream media that they control to instill discord and strife among the people. If the people are engaged in never ending battles along ethnic, religious, gendered and ideological lines then surely they are not paying attention to the fact that the wealth of the world is concentrated in the hands of a few people no? Or is this what a wild-eyed conspiracy theorist would say with his tinfoil hat firmly in place?

In actual fact the establishment isn’t left or right, black or white, male or female, straight or queer. The establishment is rich and powerful. 

Whether or not there are puppet masters at work, what is certain is that our world is extremely polarized and it is not getting better.

Live long and prosper my friends 🖖🏾