Almost all the rise in US polarisation over political issues since the late 1980s occurred from 2008 onwards, a new study suggests. Most of this has been driven by the American left becoming more socially liberal over time.
I looked at the real paper (linked in the article) and I am interpreting it a bit different. What I’m seeing is that the ‘right’ didnt move much further to the right because they’ve always supported racist, patriarchal fascism - they just have the means to actually do it now rather than just think about it and make incremental moves toward it. The movement towards the left coincides pretty well with smartphones + high speed internet, which allowed many people to see the rest of the world in real-time for the first time. This more ‘global conciousness’ can shift attitudes to the left because it peers through the veil of US propaganda. These are just my first interpretations though - I could be wrong. I try to give the benefit of the doubt to those who do the work to write peer reviewed papers (i don’t give a shit about the website article though).
I looked at the real paper (linked in the article) and I am interpreting it a bit different. What I’m seeing is that the ‘right’ didnt move much further to the right because they’ve always supported racist, patriarchal fascism - they just have the means to actually do it now rather than just think about it and make incremental moves toward it. The movement towards the left coincides pretty well with smartphones + high speed internet, which allowed many people to see the rest of the world in real-time for the first time. This more ‘global conciousness’ can shift attitudes to the left because it peers through the veil of US propaganda. These are just my first interpretations though - I could be wrong. I try to give the benefit of the doubt to those who do the work to write peer reviewed papers (i don’t give a shit about the website article though).