Non-Binary II

Following up on my earlier post, A Non-Binary Perspective, I’ll flesh out something I’ve thought, as have many, for quite a few years. The earlier post noted that in today’s environment, where polarization accentuates the binary appreciation of our social and political positions, that view is not truly serviceable. More to the point, the linear left-right model of the political spectrum just does not work.

Knowing as I do, many who’ve voted for both sides in recent years, I cannot easily see all those who voted Democrat as racist, transgender, authoritarians, nor do I see those who voted Republican as fascist white supremacists.

Models and reality often fail to converge. While I mentioned above the widely referred to linear left-right model, I’ve seen models using a Cartesian-like quad, cubes, spheres, and circles. While I understand how most of those were conceived, none seem to cover it all. There are a host of exceptions, and of course, a good model is hoped to have some predictive capability.

My own conception occupies a 3D space whose boundaries are undefined. I see Fascists and Socialists-cum-Communists next door to each other, with Islamists not far away. That neighborhood is far removed from Western Civilization’s classical liberal democracy, which has its own internal structure. “Liberal” in the foregoing means live-and-let-live, unlike its present-day interchangeability with “Progressive” over in the bad neighborhood.

The polarization much discussed of late is dependent on black-and-white characterizations fanned by those with a vested interest (politicians, journalists and other media personalities, as well as those driven by single issues). “You’re either with us, or you’re against us,” or as some numbnut on X/Twitter posted not long ago, if you’re against Antifa, you’re fascist. Sheesh!

Why do we so rely on a binary model that many of us see as flawed? For us in the U.S., it’s pushed partly by the two-party political system. But I also see in recent decades a burgeoning tendency towards shrinking attention spans with a concomitant simplification of thought, driven by the escalating complexity of contemporary life. That complexity, of course, is fertile soil for those who would fan division.

When talk of civil war simmers toward ignition, those bent on galvanizing their side towards action – and currently it is the Left seeking a rematch of the Civil War – find that getting rid of the “moderates” comes before attacking their political opposites. Moderates in this case being anyone with opinions divergent from those closely aligned with the driving ideologues. Thus, things tend to quickly sort out into a black-and-white binary.