Ezra Klein on Why We’re Polarized

<div> <div> <p><span data-contrast="auto">In his</span> <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/Why-Were-Polarized-Ezra-Klein/dp/1797107658" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span data-contrast="none">new book</span></a><span data-contrast="auto">,</span> <span data-contrast="auto">Ezra Klein argues that polarization in America has become centered on partisan political identities, which has subsumed virtually every form of identity, be it where we live, what team we root for, the church we attend, or any other. This stacked form of polarization thus carries much more weight and is activated by a wider range of conflicts than before.</span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559740":276}"><br /></span></p> </div> <div> <p><span data-contrast="auto">But is</span> <span data-contrast= "auto">polarization</span> <span data-contrast="auto">really such a pressing concern</span><span data-contrast="auto">?</span> <span data-contrast="auto">If</span> <span data-contrast= "auto">it’s all</span> <span data-contrast="auto">merged into</span> <span data-contrast="auto">one form of</span> <span data-contrast="auto">identity</span> <span data-contrast= "auto">politics</span> <span data-contrast="auto">then</span> <span data-contrast="auto">aren’t</span> <span data-contrast= "auto">we just polarizing more efficiently?</span> <span data-contrast="auto">Over what percentage of GDP are we more polarized today versus in the past?</span><span data-contrast= "auto">  </span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559740":276}"> <br /></span></p> </div> <div> <p><span data-contrast="auto">Tyler posed these questions to Ezra and more, including thoughts on Silicon Valley’s intellectual culture,</span> <span data-contrast="auto">his disagreement with Jonathan Haidt’s Moral Foundations Theory</span><span data-contrast="auto">, the limits of telecommuting, how becoming a father made him less conservative, his post-kid production function, why Manhattan is overrated, the “cosmic embarrassment” of California’s governance,</span> <span data-c