Personal attacks

Researchers note that "affective polarization"—growing animosity toward the opposing party—has increased significantly since 1980, with party affiliation now dictating personal lifestyle decisions, such as where to live or who to marry. The women's liberation movement popularized the slogan "The Personal Is Political," They meant that work such as housework, childcare and domestic abuse were not individual failures but issues of a society rooted in patriarchy. This was followed up in the 1980’s when conservative views on talk radio and the formation of the silent majority gained momentum. Next came the expansion of social media where individuals could rant to sizable audiences. Then a dozen years ago, Trump comes on the scene using blunt, harsh and sometimes outlandish language to describe his political opponents. The left responded by going further left and we stand today with both sides in their respective corners no longer willing to listen. The debate has shifted from policy to personality where disagreements are perceived as threats to a person’s core sense of self. This is further aggravated by the idea of identity politics where people are grouped by some characteristic like race, gender, sexuality or religion. Terms like racist, misogynist, homophobic, and antisemitic are used in everyday conversation. Instead of discussing economic policies like job creation and economic growth, conversations center around different personalities using personal insults to explain their positions. With the proliferation of podcasts to make money by selling ads based on clicks the situation worsens. You can get readers by saying outlandish things rather than the mundane daily news reporting. This leads to the extremes and fosters conspiracy theories. The solution is to get back to policy but that is not very exciting.