How sad I was recently to read the public post from former Nebraskan Senator and President of the University of Florida, Ben Sasse, who announced the following: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFriends, This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I\u2019ll cut to the chase: Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die. Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it\u2019s a death sentence. But I already had a death sentence before last week too \u2014 we all do. I\u2019m blessed with amazing siblings and half-a-dozen buddies that are genuinely brothers. As one of them put it, \u2018Sure, you\u2019re on the clock, but we\u2019re all on the clock.\u2019 Death is a wicked thief, and the bastard pursues us all. Still, I\u2019ve got less time than I\u2019d prefer\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2018, Sasse wrote a book the Intramuralist believed to be spot on and brilliant. It\u2019s entitled \u201cThem: Why We Hate Each Other \u2014 and How to Heal.\u201d In it he argues how America\u2019s current state of extreme political polarization is not primarily a political crisis, but rather, a byproduct of a profound loneliness epidemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n His point is that the erosion of \u201clocal tribes\u201d \u2014 faith-based groups, neighborhood associations and service clubs \u2014 has left Americans feeling isolated. This isolation then activates physical pain responses in the brain, which often manifest as anger and resentment. No doubt in the 8 years since publication, we\u2019ve all seen increased anger and resentment. One could look at the last few weeks alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sasse maintains that to fill the void left by the community collapse, people have turned to partisan media. Sasse cleverly calls this \u201cpolititainment,\u201d which is no doubt alive and well. This model and these partisans thrive on stoking outrage and \u201cnutpicking\u201d \u2014 plucking extreme examples from the opposing so-called side to justify painting them as a representative enemy. Here he suggests that hosts such as Sean Hannity and Rachel Maddow aren\u2019t attempting to inform you; they want to make you mad. Such feeds the rage politics so in play today. It also highlights how journalism has eradicated the distinction between news and opinion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Realizing its contemporary relevance, especially this week, allow us to share more nuggets of wisdom from \u201cThem\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRight now partisan tribalism is statistically higher than at any point since the Civil War. Why? It\u2019s certainly not because our political discussions are more important. It\u2019s because the local, human relationships that anchored political talk have shriveled up. Alienated from each other, and uprooted from places we can call home, we\u2019re reduced to shrieking.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLacking meaningful attachments, people are finding a perverse bond in at least sharing a common enemy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is a deep and corrosive tribal impulse to act as if “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” But sometimes the enemy of your enemy is just a jackass.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMany of our television hosts are modern-day carnival barkers. We get dopamine, adrenalin, and oxytocin all at once. It’s an adult video game. But instead of expertly separating us from our wallets, they’re separating us from things much more valuable. Our time, our sense of perspective, and our judgment. And they are separating us from each other.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFreedom depends on an informed citizenry, and an informed citizenry depends on serious journalism that takes facts seriously and grapples with those facts honestly. But good journalism is less and less likely when there are fewer and fewer readers with an appetite for something more than titillation. Producers and consumers work in tandem\u2014for better or for worse. Right now, the pool of trust that once made that relationship constructive has all but dried up.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen one half of the nation demonizes the other half, tendrils of resentment reach out and strangle whatever charitable impulses remain in us.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe want an America with free speech, religion, press, assembly, and protest – even for those we disagree with.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanks, Ben. You\u2019ve got less time than we prefer, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How sad I was recently to read the public post from former Nebraskan Senator and President of the University of Florida, Ben Sasse, who announced the following: \u201cFriends, This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I\u2019ll cut to the chase: Last week I was … <\/p>\n