What are the symbols of our times?
Masks and needles probably would be the first things coming to mind these days. But that sits on top and doesn't really reflect the depth of the current situation.
Recently Dasha Yausheva, my classmate who I met through the journalism faculty in St. Petersburg, made a post in which she discusses a symbol that'd best suit the society we live in. Her point was that not only does the Russian community nowadays seem like its crest – an eagle with two heads, each looking the opposite way – but the global community as well has turned deeply divided, and reminds us of that eagle.
I thought it was a very accurate comparison.
"Anything that used to bring us together became secondary. Everything that divides us stands out. Or is getting spotlighted. Depends on the perspective," she said in her post.
From my peace and conflict background, I knew in theory that any crisis or social conflict results in polarization and radicalization of people. But I don't think that in conscious life before I have witnessed that happening, especially on such a major scale and in absence of a military conflict.
We, as a society, are getting polarized every day, and it's not just about the pandemic.
The many problems we are facing, like a weight on people's shoulders, push us towards the ground. But instead of getting tighter together (something we witnessed at the beginning of the pandemic) and trying to find solutions, we split because of our views.
I've now witnessed too many talks that seemed like complete monochrome - no room for negotiation, just black and white.
Be it climate change, pandemic approach, national or global politics, economy, global crisis, vaccination, religion, international affairs, health, history or any other issues that one way or the other affect everyone, people are divided and sit on the two opposite sides of that imaginary line. There is no real golden middle anymore, or maybe there is just hardly anyone there.
With individuals and individual rights being a central value of our culture, we became overly sensitive to any kind of comments or discussions. Almost everything is a trigger now. Over the last two or three years, the list of hot-button or pretty much forbidden topics has grown significantly, and things that are not intended to be a personal issue are taken personally, dividing people and creating walls between them.
Dasha pointed out in her post that those few who "stick to one of the shades of grey" in our contemporary black and white society, keep it quiet. I've met a couple of people like that. They analyze, research, think and then most of the time keep their conclusions to themselves, simply because it seems that no one is interested in discussions, and rather would stream their positions, mostly fortified by emotions, not arguments.
If they do voice their thoughts or try to bridge the gap between polar groups, they are often quieter than those on the poles.
While polarization splits the society into us and them, it brings the "us" into a tighter group. It may go against pre-existing social lines, such as family bonds, friendships, social groups, religion, ethnic groups, etc., creating a new value that glues the new group, which is more meaningful for the members.
In their polarized views, people want to find like-minded ones, but in reality, the more we polarize, the further apart we are and the further the social conflicts between the groups escalate. And as that happens, further polarization occurs – stereotypes damage the relationship between adversaries, and more and more lines of communication that are normal in regular life are cut off. It's an endless circle unless we choose differently.
Dasha said that when she gets too tired of the opposing parties' aggression, she turns on the lectures by the Dalai Lama, as he always looks for something that unites the opposing groups.
And that's what we need the most these days. We need to relearn how to see the gold in the black and white world and bring this gold up. We need to dig out that talent inside ourselves because before everything turned sharp and contrastively, we all had values that united us. And we need to listen a bit closer to those quieter voices that still can see these different shades, as they can bring us back.
We didn't lose the values that united us before, we are just more focused on other things. But to not live a life of a two-headed eagle, we can consciously choose to highlight something that unites us rather than divides us.
