Welcome to the Commian podcast. This is Jeff Krasno. Okay, so I have written extensively and published numerous podcasts about sociopolitical polarization over the past year. It seems as if virtually every prescient societal issue in America pushes us toward

oppositional extremes, often based on political identity. We have experienced this phenomenon with the

legitimacy of the presidential election, with COVID and the acceptance of the vaccine, with

guns and gun reform, with cancel culture, and of course, with

social justice and its relationship to police violence. One need only glance at Facebook or

Twitter to witness the invective, the hurling of vitriol and ad hominem attacks and the utter

lack of discourse. With specific regards to the police,

there seems to be two primary echo chambers. The left posits that the police is inherently

racist and indiscriminately shooting and killing black people at large numbers. And while the right

might concede to the few bad apples theory,

it increasingly views the Black Lives Matter movement as an attack on American values and prone to

violence, rioting, and looting. We just cannot seem to have thoughtful dialogue on this issue.

Now, there are some meticulous conversations happening,

but those are largely transpiring on the margins. So I'm trying to find some common ground.

In the process of research and contemplation on this issue and others, I tend to immerse myself

in heaps of empirical data, and this process can often be dispassionate,

which belies the truly emotional signature of this topic.

I suppose this position itself could be considered privilege.

I fully acknowledge that my assessment of this profoundly complicated situation is highly observational

and not lived. My personal interaction with the police has honestly been minimal, but I have friends

who have experienced violent confrontations with cops, and I know how traumatic and scarring those experiences have been for them.

I am a lifelong liberal and overwhelmingly support progressive policies.

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