In the 1980s, we had relatives living in Kamchatka, a far-away peninsula in the Russian Far East, halfway to Alaska. In fact, both territories are divided by the cold Bering Sea – and connected by the 1,000-mile-long chain of the Aleutian Islands.
So, I remember what it was like for my parents to talk to my aunts and uncles. There was no automatic long-distance connection yet. We had to call the operator first, to order a phone call. The connection quality was not always perfect. Plus, it was pretty expensive. To me, communicating to my Kamchatka folks was like talking to someone who live at the land’s end.
You could physically feel the distance during these conversations on the phone. Yes, we had a dial disc land-line phone, of course.
When, in 1986, having just finished sixth grade, I went to Kamchatka for a summer vacation, it was really like travelling to the land’s end, too. In a way, Kamchatka, with its mighty Pacific Ocean, magnificent volcanos and tree-covered hills, was like a prelude to my Alaska experience. That was an amazing experience!
Now, I can use plenty of digital online tools to communicate to someone from Kamchatka, Alaska, or North Cyprus. I can chat in Messenger or arrange an audio or video call. In fact, RUSUK contributors now communicate via Facebook Messenger; I enjoy holding these video sessions.
Taking into consideration all these modern means of communication, I think we are much more united, then divided, these days. Internet makes magic with messengers, social media, and other tools and services that help us to keep in touch with people we want to talk and see. Literally, anytime, across time zones and great distances.
The funny side of this communicational revolution is that we can chat with people we would never see in real life; let alone we don’t know their names, only nicks.
Anyway, we live in a global village now.
Are we more divided these days?
It so depends on what criteria you apply to this question. On a personal level, I feel today that I am more at ease and feel more connected to both sides of my family, even though we live thousands of kilometres apart.
Since Covid, we have communicated, through Zoom and other media, far more often than we ever did before. Where once we were not allowed to meet or mix in any way, video calls became the norm, but more importantly, continued to be the norm, meaning we have far more regular contact than we ever did pre-pandemic. A togetherness more than we could ever have contemplated.
I am the proud patron of the leading disability sport group in the Channel Islands, but when I left the islands 13 years ago to retire abroad, I was unable to participate in person with all the other committee members for our regular meeting to discuss policy and other important issues. Until Covid, when suddenly, the other local members were not allowed to meet and mix, so guess what? Zoom to the rescue once again, and my ability to join in from my retreat in the Mediterranean . So, the opposite of divisive for me, whereas the other members all felt that meeting electronically was a necessity but discordant compared with the all-inclusive feeling that went before. (The meetings remain electronic to his day, obviating the need to hire a hall and all those unnecessary car journeys.)
Politically, the world is certainly more divided that I can ever remember. I just have to glance across the Atlantic Ocean to see what is becoming of America, which I have no doubt my pal Dean will cover with his usual repartee. In my Britain, there is a prevailing sense that things are worse than they used to be, with particular concerns about the divisions between immigrants and those born in Britain. Brexit certainly maximised these divisions, and I hope those that voted for it are particularly proud of the chaos they have caused.
In fact, the UK is seeing a fragmentation of political support, alongside so-called “affective polarisation” related to people’s Brexit identities. This is when individuals begin to segregate themselves socially and to distrust and dislike people from the opposing side, irrespective of whether they disagree on matters of policy. These Brexit identities are superseding weakening party-political ones. The divide is getting wider and wider.
Are we more divided these days?
Being long of tooth, I remember when my father went off to the Vietnam War. I was quite young and would watch Walter Cronkite every evening for news of the war. There was other news: America was on fire. Many big cities were engulfed by full-on convulsions and were literally burning.
The protest in LA were nothing: a total of five cars and two businesses were set on fire. These were protest, not riots and the unrest was limited to a few blocks near the downtown area. The vast majority of people were peaceful and did nothing wrong.
But that was plenty for Fox. They ran with it and put everything on loop. Trump was, in turn, able to use that to justify bringing in thousands of National Guard and even some Marines. The “riots” have died down but the solders remain. They will be there until 29 days are up. Why 29 days? Because on day 30 the Guard has to pay for the hotel rooms and stipend. Not only is Trump flipping the finger at the city of Los Angles, he’s also flipping off the solders he deployed.
But that’s a different story. By any reasonable measure we are not more divided today than we were then. But it feels like we are… I will put forward two reasons why I think this is true:
- I’ll just quote Wikipedia: “The fairness doctrine of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, was a policy that required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that fairly reflected differing viewpoints.” Regan removed the requirement in the interest of deregulation. That in turn allowed the rise of partisan Internet “news” channels which have no interest at all in educating their views on any topic, ever.
- I would also point to the rise of the Internet. Today you no longer need to look someone in the eye and tell them they are wrong to their face. Using some screen name like Charmer378, you can get online and call someone names and make totally unhinged claims. Even our leaders swim in this cesspool; silly and immature statements about Jewish Space Lasers causing fires or eating dogs and cats in Ohio are common.
The result is predictable. It feels like people are more angry. Facebook purposely spreads the most controversial post to make people click in anger. That’s not just my opinion but that is another article. The new Oligarchs profit from faux anger.