by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
On a practical level, at least in my own personal life, American politics is dead. I have all but stopped talking politics with my far more conservative relatives. This is very bad because it means the very heart of our democracy — individual interactions where some sort of consensus is developed — no longer beats.
Trump is to blame for this clusterfuck. He’s to blame because by taking the most extreme position possible — and dragging the vast majority of conservatives with him — negative polarization has reached such a Singularity that any discussion of politics with someone you disagree with inevitable turns into a screaming match.
Now, obviously, this was already happening because of how insane the GOP turned after Obama won a second term, but the rise of Trump didn’t exactly help the situation any.
Instead of politics we just have a general drift towards a dark and unknown future.
