


There goes the neighbourhood

Our new Lexington worries about the consequences of uncivil politics in a civil country

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Best comment on American Politics & Society I have heard in a long time. Great article Lexington


I'm glad Lexington felt welcome in the US but I think he should take a moment to savor that plate of cookies he got from his new neighbor and rethink his interpretation of the tone of political discourse in the US. Politics in America has always been uncivil. In my own lifetime, discourse about Nixon, Carter, Reagan, the Bushes, Clinton has been pretty much the same as it was in the present day or in Lincoln's day for that matter. Its part of the competitive, winner-take-all nature of the American spirit. It's why we prefer a more explosive version of football and why the replacement refs in the NFL were such a failure (the players sought maximum advantage). But I digress. Sharp political discourse won't make for uncivil Americans. Politics is sport in America. Give Americans credit for knowing the difference between so-called uncivil political speech and real life-- life which mostly consists of working, raising families, getting along, and lending a hand to neighbors and strangers. There's a reason the First Amendment was first. Some folks just seem upset that new media has risen up to challenge the old monopoly. Fine, go out there and start your own news channel or radio show.

atlas shrugs in reply to tbyers31

If you can actually remember discourse from the Nixon era you are quite a bit older than the median age and totally out of touch with what is going on "civility-wise" in the US. There's an extremely clear break-down of good manners that has been going on for at least 15 years, and I think that people my age (35) and younger are quite used to reading/hearing incredibly vulgar and offensive remarks from total strangers in public, on the radio, all over the internet, on TV, at work, at home, etc. But especially on the internet, where the majority of younger people spend the majority of their time.


What actually hurts most America's civility: bitter partisan politics or a widening social divide?


Clearly Lexington has been away from America for far too long. Seems like he's forgotten the last 30 years the policies that benefit those like Mr. Romney caused havoc on the economy at the expense of America's shrinking middle class. Also, the fact that American right has created it's loathing and hateful echo chamber under the guise of "fair and balanced" and "we report, you decide" has something to with lack of civility. Remember that this recession was not caused by this President but his predecessor--he who shall not be named. It takes longer than 4 years to clean up the mess the fools made, especially when the other side is as obstructionist as the GOP has been.

Poxon Yourhouse

Surely the root cause of the uncivility is Fox News and the hate it promulgates. Just as Murdoch has debased UK culture he has turned America into a nation of haters.


Maybe Americans delegate their incivility to the politicians so they can be civil to each other. Sort of like the way Canadians delegate their violence to the hockey rink.


Dear Mr. Lexington,

How one can call 'civil' a country such as America, who brought savage destruction, inhuman killings and other crimes, literally throwing back centuries worth development, in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Because of what we know now well, it was a lie from the beginning?

How can we call 'civil' a country which has 'democracy'on the agenda, only as an appendix to profit and capitalism, but rises its flag any time to cover up its human rights defying actions?

How can we call 'civil' a country where most of its citizens lives in a complete isolation of world news, their brains literally being washed by media propaganda leaving them innocent to anything else but 'American'?

Hummus5989 in reply to delftse_student

How about because none of the things you mentioned have a damn thing to do with the civility of the citizens? This sort of utterly non-responsive agenda pushing 1) does nothing to help your cause, and 2) makes you look like an asshole. Try keeping the comments on Iraq, Afghanistan and capitalism to articles on Iraq, Afghanistan and capitalism respectively.


The lack of civility is the last gasp of the Christian white middle class aging demographic asserting itself in the GOP who will stop at nothing to stop power being taken away from them.

At some point in the next 10-20 years they will hopefully become a small enough minority to count as an extreme right wing section of the GOP rather than its driving force. When this happens, civility should return with a mixture of moderate democrats and republicans voting for compromise bills again.

atlas shrugs in reply to Omricon

Laughable. By far the rudest, angriest, most abrasive people I've met in my life have been left-leaning. But there is plenty of incivility to go around. Trying to peg it on one demographic make you look ridiculous.

Omricon in reply to atlas shrugs

The right tends to be civil and polite unless you attempt to do anything outside of their cultural norm at which point they collectively turn nasty.

All are stereotypes but the demographic I refer to changed their allegiance because their blue party started legislating civil liberties. This same group of people are now in the tea party.

This is of course a typical case of the majority demographic fighting against the rest and happens globally although to be fair to the US it is far less extreme than other parts of the world and generally non violent (domestically).

You reduce the power of your retort by the way by doing the same thing to the left as you claim I do for the right.


My experience upon recently returning to my country was I was taken aback at how virolent, rude, and stuboorn people where on their political positions. I was reminded by the host of the cocktail party that any subject is fair game but politics. I begged to differ, we should be able to have a civil discussion, and should, about politics without people getting so upset (true of comment sections as well). To discourage political conversation is the worst possible outcome of an attempt to maintain civility. As for the discord, I attribute it to a sporting American mentally that lends itself to aggresively supporting your team at all cost. American politics is full of words like "win" and "fight". Such a mindset works against compromise, which is the only way forward in a Democracy. Then you have the influence of the lunatic fringe and narrowly focused special interests, spurring on their camps and churning out the propoganda, ugh. Too many American voters then spend their time supporting their positions rather than challeneging them. The world would be a better place if everyone watch Jon Stewart:) Take Care!


Some more thoughts...regarding civility, it's nice but it's not enough. How many Americans were being nice and civil to each other while slavery was tolerated in half the country? How many Germans stood by behaving civilly to one another while Jews were being murdered by the thousands? Even Nazi Party members were probably quite civil to fellow members of their "master race". In short, civility is not a substitute for having a moral backbone.


This comments section would not be complete without a reference to Yeat's worst:"The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
Check out Fox news for passionate intensity.


I disagree. As ugly as the politics in the US have been lately, they are less worse than in previous election years, and in that way things are better than they have been. And American civility has endured regardless of the times - whether it was Nixon's CREEP, or Atwater's raising of the spin/negativity game or even 2004's swift boating - Americans have always found a way to coexist, at least as long as politics don't get brought up.


Before I wade into the political brawl in the articles to come, I feel I should at least say hello and welcome to the states. I hope DC makes you feel welcome, especially since I don't imagine the politics will convince you to linger otherwise.

K Wilson

Warning! Warning! False equivalence alert! What is it about otherwise intelligent and reasonable journalists that compels them to make political sins appear to be equally distributed, even when there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary?

Over the past ten or twenty years, only one party in the US has become more and more extreme. Only one pasty has driven from its ranks those suspected of pragmatism or insufficient ideological rigor. Only one party has made intransigence and rejection of compromise its central strategy. Only one party has chosen to paralyze government rather than allow their opponents to possibly take credit for improving the lot of Americans. This party is NOT the Democrats.

The lack of civility in politics is only a symptom of another problem, the radicalization of the American right wing. Radicalism and civility are incompatible, and hate calls forth hate. Nothing even remotely comparable has happened recently on the left. The situation is in many respects similar to what happened to the left in the 1960s. Civility, compromise, and cooperation will not return to US politics until the Republicans come to their senses, one hopes through electoral defeat, and without 1960s-style violence.


First off, KAL has done it again!

I have to say that I don't think the parties are causing the problem, rather they are exhibiting symptoms of the problem you finger:


American culture has been built around the idea that success with hard work was more or less ensured, a fact that was true for a generation and half after WWII, and which began to erode 3 decades ago.

The country is in denial, aided and abetted by 3 decades of frothy financial gimmicks that pasted over the problems and two generations of business people who have succeeded under this regimen and who, understandably, believe in the myth.

The reality is food/housing/education/healthcare have all inflated at incredibly, and wages have been flat. In a Winner Take All society, the top few see little to complain about.


Author's experience in Europe for lack of civility is surprising, I guess America is the few there is still the concept of neighborhood.

As for party politics, what's new, we've accepted that Democrats wants everything and Republicans don't want anything, and since this is 2 parties system, the dog-fight is never going to end.


It's a little late to be worrying about leaving scars. As I said a while back, this isn't politics, this is a civil war minus the shooting. Sometimes wars are started by mutual escalation by both sides. But other times, there is a clear aggressor and a clear victim...and this is one of those times.


Maybe in the same way that wars were fought only when commanders could demonize/dehumanize the enemy such that their soldiers moral compasses could be overcome, campaigns must be waged as war by specialists who are unwilling to concede one single point of merit in the opponent.
The never-ending campaign and the bureaucracy it has engendered have
such a vested interest in winning that it is "to the death".
No more post-election collaboration and the electorate has been pulled along into this division.


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