Why We’re Polarized by Ezra Klein. Ezra is a journalist, political analyst, and New York Times columnist. He co-founded Vox and formerly served as the website’s editor-at-large.
In addition, he has held editorial positions at The Washington Post and The American Prospect, and was a regular contributor to Bloomberg News and MSNBC. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from USC.
Ezra writes extensively about his discovery of America’s toxic political system. In confronting polarization he shows what this increased level will do to American society.
He begins by sharing a simple view of the New Deal coalition created in the 1960s, following party realignments along southern geographic and racial political lines. Much was attributed to white anxiety regarding the the shift in America’s demographics. This is also a fairly straight forward look at bias.
He proves rather insightful in communicating that Trump’s election was not a surprise at all. Yet while both Democrats and Republicans indicated his election was very unprecedented, the GOP won the White House by the exact same tactics used by their party for more than 50 years.
So, has America really changed ?
Ezra however does write that Americans are more divided over racial, religious, wealth, geographic, and ideological identities. there is even the suggestion at this new zenith, the current American political system may in fact break the country. However, his statement is not convincing. The divisions have always existed below the surface.
A political framework
There is much to his framework that revealed Trump’s far right rise versus the Democrats who are moving well beyond left of center. His historical viewpoints are very detailed, comprehensive, and are hitting an almost perfect stride of the American political system.
But, as I’ve tried to show in this book, the polarization we see around us is the logical outcome of a complex system of incentives, technologies, identities, and political institutions. It implicates capitalism and geography, politicians and political institutions, human psychology and America’s changing demography. And for now, at least, it’s here to stay. Absent an external unifying force like a war, the divisions—or worse—we see today will prove the norm, while the depolarized politics of mid-twentieth-century America will prove the exception. And if we can’t reverse polarization, as I suspect, then the path forward is clear: we need to reform the political system so it can function amid polarization.
pg. 564
In conclusion, taking the term ‘fear’ from Bob Woodward, Ezra is showing Trump, the extreme measures taken by the GOP following the election, and the Trump base. Regardless of the reader’s position, Ezra is indicating a need for fundamental changes to walk back very extreme tones now expressed in Washington. This is a well written book.