That’s kinda the dividing political line right now, seems like: the “left,” such as it exists and isn’t a diverse smattering of people, tends to have an intolerance for debate, preferring to shout people down as “cis white males” and whatnot. The “right,” such as that exists and it’s not a bunch of moderates who want better incomes and a bunch of crazies who despise immigrants, seems to have an intolerance for truth, best encapsulated recently in the “Big Lie.”
We know American political polarization is unique, and we know some of the reasons we arrived here. The general list:
- Social media
- 24/7 news (“news”)
- Easier for people to find sites that endorse their worldview and thus go into “filter bubbles”
- People are angry and upset about inequality, jobs going away, etc.
- Trump did the whole “lying without remorse” thing and it worked, so why wouldn’t others copy it?
I mostly write about work, and it’s hysterical to me because this core fulcrum debate exists in organizations all the time too. Typically executives have an intolerance for truth — “We have a great culture!” “We’re killing it on Instagram!” “We’re super digital-first!” — and have an intolerance for debate (hierarchy), and those are the guys running places that generate billions and create jobs. It’s been a fulcrum point in society for a second.
Now we need to figure out a way through it, right?
At a political level, I have no real idea. You need people standing up for truth, which you see a bit with Cheney, Romney, and Flake — but those people get #piped, cancelled, and drilled out. Trump is just too big a force and people want to kiss that ring. That’s another distinctly Boomer-ish work narrative. There’s a long time until 2024, but you think it might be Biden vs. Trump (ugh), Harris vs. Trump (messy), Harris vs. Haley (intriguing, but messy), or some combination therein. If Trump is involved, it’ll be a shit show. Bank on that. The rancor is not dying down anytime soon.
At a work level, I mean, goddamn. We been talking about COVID as some kind of “work fulcrum point” where “everything is changing” and “this is the moment” for about 8-12 months. It will be an era of compassion and empathy! We will be more inclusive with our tech stacks! And now we get a few million vaccinations popping off in arms, and suddenly the narrative is “OK, let’s go back to offices. If you don’t come back, you’re disengaged and we’ll probably fire you.” The WeWork CEO said that this week. Look it up. I can’t do everything for you. So does anything really change at work? A little bit here and there, but it’s mostly experienced in terms of new colleagues, not “cultures of transparency” or “true accountability.” Do I think intolerance for debate will go away in big orgs, where executives are protected and propped up by a bunch of enablers, and want to only hear rosy numbers all week? No, I don’t. Do I think an intolerance for truth will go away? I don’t, either. I think work will evolve, and eventually work will die out (automation), and then we’ll need to reinvent a whole bunch of other stuff. That’s the real path. It’s not “cultures of transparency.” An exec wants that about as much as he wants to be seen at a BLM rally. (It makes the country club the next day a little bit more awkward.)
I’m not sure the path through on this whole arc, politically or organizationally, but I am confident humans can figure something out to keep both democracy and investor returns somewhat stable. Takes?
