Whether it’s our stance toward immigrants, support for Palestinian rights, or position on the Epstein files, we are shouting more, listening less, and forgetting what it means to seek a unified truth. We can’t continue down this path much longer. Three forces stand out as drivers of our dysfunction:
1. Polarization
Ideological differences have devolved from intellectual dialogue into anger and even hatred, making civil discourse nearly impossible. Relationships are ending over sociopolitical differences. Sadly, this growing division distracts us from the deeper, systemic issues that are causing societal dissatisfaction, including accelerating wealth and income inequality.
2. Geopolitical fracture
For the first time in recent memory, left and right are internally divided on geopolitical issues. We’ve gone from a society divided in two, to one that is now divided in four: on the left, some support Israel unconditionally while others oppose it; on the right, the same split appears. Even well-known right-wing figures like Tucker Carlson now break from the mainstream right, a fracture I never expected to see.
3. Knowledge vs. belief
We’ve lost sight of the difference between knowledge and belief: we know the sun exists; we believe in God. Knowledge is observable and testable, and thus can transcend peoples and societies, while belief is personal and subjective, and is thus a human right we respect. Yet today we increasingly treat knowledge, including physical and social sciences, as if it were belief, dismissing shared facts as just another opinion.
It is more important than ever to reverse this trajectory. Debate seeks victory. Democracy needs deliberation: constructive, respectful, and unifying — something that seeks to understand. And we need it soon. If we cannot learn to unite on knowledge and disagree with grace on beliefs, we risk losing more than just the argument; we risk losing each other.
Bassam T. Salem, Park City