The Social Pendulum

Let's Expand the Overton Window

Written by Neil Gonsalves for Seeking Veritas on Substack

“Every action has an equal and opposite reaction” - Issac Newton

Wokeism versus viewpoint diversity doesn’t have the same catchy ring as the “Thrilla in Manila” or the “Rumble in the Jungle” but their respective constituencies often battle each other with comparable conviction and die hard determination. - But, what fuels the fire in their bellies? In this article I suggest that our social division is not about differing world views. It is inextricably linked to the inevitable ebb and flow of the social pendulum, based on our reactions to globalization and populism.

When Rodney King intervened with his famous question; “Can’t we all just get along?” he was attempting to interrupt the Los Angeles Riots of 1992.

As a result of several days of rioting, more than 50 people were killed, more than 2,300 were injured, and thousands were arrested. About 1,100 buildings were damaged, and total property damage was about $1 billion, which made the riots one of the most-devastating civil disruptions in American history.

The thirty year history following those riots have answered his question about whether we can get along with a resounding, “Apparently not!”

No De-Militarized Zones

Fewer people seem to be asking that question each year. There is a ubiquitous state of polarization that we seem to have internalized and normalized. The famous question has been altered into an opening statement; “Why we can’t get along…”, followed by detailed argumentation (ranging from logical to fantastical) justifying our divisions - By dropping and swapping a couple of words the entire focal point of Rodney King’s question shifts.

Good intentions, unchecked and unbalanced can have dire consequences and can rapidly become counterproductive. Our ideological allegiances reinforce the us versus them dichotomy and somewhere along the way we stopped listening. We became content with speaking at instead of to each other. We gave up on dialogue in favour of monologues. We just stopped trying to get along.

A lot has been written about the plight of marginalized people, and a growing body of work is emerging to challenge the grand narrative often dubbed, being woke. I will not re-litigate the matter here. Regardless of where you stand, what is becoming increasingly evident is that there are no demilitarized zones in this conflict. Everyone is expected to take a side.

Global Villages & Citizens

What if the whole twenty-first century race and culture wars, in North America and Western Europe, are really a microcosm of a global pattern that has played out several times throughout history.

In the late eighties, the Cold War ended. The iron curtain collapsed and the Berlin Wall was smashed. The well known post WWII enemy was vanquished and a global humanitarian worldview took hold. In the period between Hitler and Bin Laden, major social advances were tangible achieved.

Nation states gained independence from their colonizers. Religious tolerance improved; gender inequities were finally being addressed in meaningful ways; diversity within sexuality was acknowledged, widespread legalization finally prevented people from being prosecuted because of who they loved; civil rights legislation was passed and racial animus was reduced. Technological advances made information more accessible and connected parts of the world previously knowable only by means of your high school atlas. The terms global village and global community became more common.

As people and business started travelling around this global village, jobs migrated, global labour markets opened and the other side of inclusion slowly became apparent. Everyone was happy when the Indian and Chinese factories sent over their low priced merchandise (which is awesome unless you ruin it by thinking too long about why the products are cheap). But, then ‘those people from third world countries’ thought, “if they like the things we make, they will probably like us too” - and that’s where the wheels fell off!

Rise of Populism

Globalization was all the rage until it wasn’t. All of sudden foreign born people were in your neighbourhood not just on your shirt labels. Folks in Pleasantville puckered and a return to isolationism started looking like a really good political strategy.

Satire aside, over the last couple of decades global politics has trended universally away from liberalism.

Think about all the countries whose populist parties either won elections or made major gains; Brazil, Venezuela, Poland, Hungary, Turkey, India, Philippines, France, Russia, Germany, Australia and the United States among many others.

The rise of populism can be attributed to the fact that a global economy arguably benefits poor workers in developing countries and the 1% in advanced economies far more than it does the working and middle classes. Combine that economic reality with mass immigration and you have the recipe for nationalism and an us versus them attitude towards anyone who appears different.

The result is a perceived loss of status among former majorities.

“As human experience suggests (and behavioural economists confirm) the pain of loss exceeds the pleasure of gain. While failing to improve one’s well-being, is despairing, losing ground is bitter… As demography shifts, “old stock” citizens fear a loss of status and cultural centrality” - William A. Galston - (Anti-Pluralism)

Tribalism, an inherent feature of the human condition, becomes an easy answer - in-group solidarity increases and people tend to exaggerate the difference themselves and newer citizens.

After the Cold War, the emergence of India and China on the world stage added hundreds of millions of new workers to the global economy. Soon those global citizen would start to travel and soon they would become the “other”.

An Alternative Theory

“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” - Winston Churchill (1948)

The pendulum always swings back. The further in one direction it goes the further it eventually swings the other way. If this is true, then we can see our social context in a new light:

• Imperialism motivates the desire for freedom.

• Freedom inevitably creates inequities.

• Inequities promote a desire for socialism.

• Socialism breeds despotism.

• Despotism is combatted by liberalism.

• Liberalism opens global communities.

• Global communities create global citizens.

• Global citizens increase the labour supply, and immigration.

• Increased immigration threatens social status.

• A challenge to social status gives birth to populism.

• Populism led to nationalism,

• Nationalism led to tribalism,

• Tribalism requires an US and a THEM.

By the time anyone realized that they were stuck in a loop propped up by simplistic binary thinking, the battle lines were drawn. Being woke, escalating social protests, race based social justice activism, and a reliance on group identity may just have been a response to the global shift to right.

However, whenever drastic shifts occur, they have the potential to produce an extreme response. Which begs the question, what happens next? - If we cannot all just get along, perhaps we can expand the Overton Window to make room new policies that do not rely so heavily on polarization.

Perhaps we can find common humanity even among those we disagree with.

END

Bio: Neil Gonsalves is an Indian-born Canadian immigrant who grew up in Dubai, U.A.E. and moved to Canada in 1995. He is an Ontario college professor, a TEDx speaker, a German Shepherd lover and a recreational dog trainer.

(The views contained in this article are solely those of the author, intended for opinion based editorial purposes and/or entertainment only. They do not represent the views of any organization I am otherwise associated with.)