The Real Problem of Our Civil and Electoral Strife

The national uproar over the U.S. presidential election is in full swing. On the heels of a deeply troubling debate performance, President Biden is perceived as too old in some quarters, and in other sectors, former President Trump is seen as a hateful peddler of partisanship. But in fixating on the foibles of either candidate, we overlook a deeper problem. No matter who gets elected in November, there is a perilous instability in our country that goes well beyond Biden and Trump.

This instability comes not so much from our political divides, but rather from our psychological state. A striking segment of the candidates’ followers—particularly on the extremist right but not by any means exclusively—are increasingly in the grip of what I call the “polarized mind.” The polarized mind fixates on a single point of view to the utter exclusion of competing points of view, and, as I have argued for over a decade, may be the most toxic mentality of humanity, let alone contemporary America.

Although it often skews conservative, the polarized mind is not exclusive to any political party, ideology, or leader; it does not link to any particular religion, nation, or economic system. Rather it can, provided favorable circumstances, associate with any of these identities and more. This is what makes the polarized mind so dangerous; it is not based on surface qualities like communist or capitalist, Democrat or Republican. But like a creature from the deep, it strikes in the least expected places.

By nature, the polarized mind seeks sameness to validate its views. The more rigidly constructed the echo chambers surrounding the polarized mind, the greater the likelihood that it will incite angrier and more numerous polarized minds in reaction. We see this in the mounting political divisions, bigotry, and even fascistic tendencies proliferating in our society. For example, it is evident when Muslims are equated with terrorists, or Zionists with oppressors. Or when immigrants are accused of “poisoning” American blood, or Trump supporters are equated with Nazi fascists, and no further investigations are pursued. We live in a world of reactivity amplified by predatory media, political rhetoric, and a quest for the quick fix and instant result.

The primal fear of the unknown—and the groundlessness and helplessness that attends—appears to be at the crux of the polarized mind. This fear is native to our humanity, both from the dawn of our species to the birth of our individual lives. It has an adaptive side, like signaling us to fight or flee an anticipated adversary. But because we are symbolic creatures, the fear of the unknown and the helplessness that attends is too often revived in the absence of a direct physical threat. This is particularly true today when we are surrounded by so many fear-based messages. These messages run the gamut from sensationalized news to disinformation campaigns that demonize those on the “other side.” Adding to this insecurity is the dread of cultural displacement, financial insecurity, and the substitution of human relatedness with mechanical relatedness.

The upshot is that our society is increasingly attracted to strong-arm leaders, simplistic ideologies, and tribal affinities that threaten to undermine basic standards of civility let alone the democratic pillars to which our country has aspired.

But we are not without recourse. A nationwide mobilization of health professionals—psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, school counselors, life coaches, and allied professionals—is working toward “emotionally restorative relationships” throughout the country. These are relationships that help people—particularly the underserved—to feel seen and heard, and that get at the roots of their problems. By addressing these roots—such as the terror of feeling lost and insignificant—we can foster responsiveness as distinct from reactivity that may soften, if not transform, our cultural divides.

The mobilization I envision to improve human relations on both personal and political levels would ideally be on a par with the Peace Corps, both agency-sponsored and voluntary. It would also be affordable for services ranging from longer-term, in-depth psychotherapy to crisis intervention in community policing, to counseling and mentorship of youth, to relational support for the homeless and impoverished. The provision of safe, structured dialogue groups between people in cultural and political conflict would also be integral to such a project.

We simply can’t ignore the five-alarm fire posed by the polarized mind in our society. Simply throwing money at this problem with political or legal remedies will not be enough, that is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. We need an approach that substantively addresses people’s primal fears of powerlessness, let alone dissolution, before the upheavals of modern life. To this end, we need a National Corps of Mental Health Providers to deploy and be of support wherever and whenever possible, lest we drop further into our individual and collective abyss. To be sure, we won’t be able to reach everybody with this mobilization, and the most hardened will deplore it. But if we can reach the critical mass of people who are sick and tired of the infighting—the razor’s edge of destruction—then we have a chance at boosting our messy yet humane collective.

While I personally see Trump as the greater danger; nationally, Biden and Trump have become symbols of a larger psychological and social crisis. This crisis has many manifestations—political and cultural divisiveness, racism, and classism, to name a few. But at their core, and at the core of the polarized mind, is emotional impoverishment. And until we address that problem, our leaders—and world—will be perpetually on the brink.