It may be to late, I fear we may have reached the tipping point. Most of the individuals I engage with from my own and other liberal-minded institutions, have already shown the lack of this ability. It’s gotten to the point where most conversations do Infact traumatize them (ones mostly pertaining to there own identity and others). Difficult subjects are avoided in order to apease fragile senses of self. I was lucky and blessed to have been afforded a life with so much perspective. With that said, some of my friends who do not attend the same liberal institutions but are in fact left leaning, are starting to show signs of more extremists right wing thinking. I’m no scientist or researcher but I feel it’s because the tribalisitic nature of these groups are forcing people to, in a sense, switch sides. We are losing the ability to discuss the middle ground. Modern media is no help either, with the late night host comedians aggravating various groups in order to apease a demographic or large corporations silencing opposing thoughts for the sake of the bottom line.
