Whether it’s casual workplace conversations or intense family debates, many Americans have wondered how to effectively communicate their political viewpoints and engage in productive discussions. Whether it’s with family members, friends, or co-workers, political discourse has turned into hostile attacks in recent years. This is largely attributed to the proliferation of fake and often hostile news reported on blogs and YouTube videos over the internet. Well, now a new book called “Bridging Our Political Divide: How Liberals and Conservatives Can Understand Each Other and Find Common Ground” by psychologist Kenneth Barish offers insights into how to deal with all this madness, at least in the workplace.
Kenneth Barish, Ph. D., is Clinical Professor of Psychology at Weill Medical College, Cornell University. He is also on the faculty of the Westchester Center for the Study of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy and the William Alanson White Institute Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Training Program.
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In his book, Kenneth Barish teaches us how to listen, think, and speak about our political opinions in a way that allows us to understand each other’s concerns, resist false dichotomies and ideological certainty, see new perspectives and possibilities, and find common ground.
“We are more likely to be open-minded when new facts are presented in the context of dialogue; when we feel that our needs and feelings have been acknowledged; if we feel respected; and when we are less afraid,” he explains. “For coming closer together, we need to cultivate this openness, to the extent possible.”
In Roman politics, the Optimates (“best men”) believed in preserving tradition while the Populares (“favoring the people”) proposed welfare programs and the expansion of citizenship rights.
Although presented in changed forms, these early conflicts form the basis of liberalism and conservatism today. Conservative political ideas can be understood as maintaining the existing social order and reacting to perceived threats. Meanwhile, liberalism is described as a belief in humane social reform and questioning established authority.
“The greater the perceived threat or excess, the more impassioned the conservative reaction; in a similar way, the greater the perceived cruelty or injustice, the more impassioned the liberal desire for change,” says Kenneth Barish.
A central argument of “Bridging Our Political Divide” is that political attitudes extend beyond the realm of politics, influencing various aspects of life, including science, art, child-rearing, and institutional management. Kenneth Barish highlights that while both liberalism and conservatism offer valuable insights, they can manifest in moderate or extreme forms. He emphasizes that extreme conservatism often exhibits authoritarian, intolerant, xenophobic, and fundamentalist tendencies, or serves as a pretext for preserving hierarchy and privilege. Conversely, he suggests that extreme liberalism views existing institutions as inherently illegitimate and evil. The more these institutions are perceived as unjust, the greater the level of extremism. In its radical form, liberalism often assumes that institutions are always flawed and that aggrieved individuals are always justified.
