Newsletter 106 — April 16, 2023
Reader Suggested Links
Highlighting links suggested by our readers. Please send us links to things that you find useful.
Is the Liberal Approach to Justice Reverse CBT?
by Matt Legge
April 16, 2023
I read this article "How to Understand the Well-Being Gap between Liberals and Conservatives" and thought of Guy and Heidi Burgess, as it addresses some of the same issues that they write about and share articles on. Personally, I was particularly fascinated by this point:
many strains of liberal ideology fashionable among highly educated and relatively affluent Americans function, in practice, as a form of reverse cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).
Cognitive behavioral therapy encourages people to avoid global labeling and black-and-white or zero-sum thinking. It pushes people to abstain from hyperbole and catastrophizing or filtering out the good while highlighting the bad. CBT encourages people to resist emotional reasoning, jumping to conclusions, mind-reading, and uncharitable motive attribution. It tells adherents not to make strong assumptions about what others should do or feel, or how the world should be. Instead, patients are encouraged to meet the world as it is, and to engage the actual over the ideal. CBT instructs people to look for solutions to problems rather than focusing inordinately on who to blame (and punish). It tells patients to focus on controlling what they can in the present rather than ruminating on misfortunes of the past or worrying about futures that may or may not come to pass. It encourages people to see themselves as resilient and capable rather than weak, vulnerable, helpless or “damaged.” It is easy to see how popular strains of liberal thinking basically invert this guidance, likely to the detriment of adherents.
Through my work, I have noticed and been trying to gently say something similar for years. I was struck by how succinctly and, to me, clearly, the point is made here.
As far as I can tell, some popular approaches to justice advocated by folks like Robin DiAngelo seem to be advising exactly the opposite of successful practices I found coming up again and again when doing research for my book Are We Done Fighting?. I was aware of evidence I collected from a wide range of academic studies into human behaviours and motivations—not just from peace and conflict experts but from all sorts of other fields (behavioural economics, neuroscience, social psychology, etc.)—but I wasn't aware before reading this article that similar ideas and approaches are taught in cognitive-behavioural therapy.
I'm troubled that I see certain currently fashionable approaches to social justice work too often mostly disempowering adherents and leaving them feeling worse, while not resulting in more meaningful and effective actions for justice in the world either.
Polarization is Damaging US Credibility
by Suzanne Ghais
April 16, 2023
This Politico article describing the US's competition with China and Russia for influence in the Middle East "What leaked docs show about U.S.-Russia fight for Middle East" discusses how U.S. domestic polarization affects US credibility, standing, and appeal as an ally/partner internationally. One example given in the article is
A Middle Eastern diplomat said one frustrating thing about America is its unpredictable domestic politics and the role short-term thinking plays in shaping policy. The wild swings in policy over the past decade — from President Barack Obama to President Donald Trump to now Biden — have added to the sense of uncertainty.
Colleague Activities
Highlighting things that our conflict and peacebuilding colleagues are doing that contribute to efforts to address the hyper-polarization problem.
- Constructive Communication
National Week of Conversation — For those exhausted by division and hatred, join others from across the country April 17 to explore better ways of relating to each other. - Developing a Unifying Vision
Creating a Place to Belong by Pursuing Peace: Preemptive Love's 2022 Impact Report — Peace underpins thriving communities. More than the absence of conflict, peace is the absence of worry. That's why Preemptive Love's programming addresses people's deepest concerns. - Civic Education
Winter 2023 Issue of the National Civic Review — With articles on addressing aging, racism, and creating thriving workplaces and communities. - Making Collaborative Democracy Work
Locally-Led Peacebuilding: From Policy To Action — A call for a "tectonic shift" in donor culture and operations to overcome existing barriers to locally-led peacebuilding efforts. - Large-scale networking
Join Restorative Justice Map & Directory Launch List — This is a collaborative effort to bring together those doing restorative justice work. - Constructive Communication
Civity & the "Tough Issues" — Learn how Civity is addressing really tough social issues by improving civic relationships.
Beyond Intractability in Context
From around the web, more insight into the nature of our conflict problems, limits of business-as-usual thinking, and things people are doing to try to make things better.
- Us-vs-Them Thinking
The Scarcest Thing in the World — For a world in which we are all dependent on being able to work with others, a sobering argument that the trust needed for effective collaboration is the scarcest thing in the world. - Political Dysfunction
We’re Entering an Era of ‘Total Politics’ — Another reminder of the dysfunctional nature of our hyper-polarized, us-vs-them politics and the importance of efforts to address the problem. - Constructive Communication
I stopped reading the news. Is the problem me — or the product? — For news junkies and journalists, provocative questions about the benefits (and the costs) of the information we consume and produce. - Large-Scale Violence
What Peace in Northern Ireland Looks Like Now — After a quarter century, an update on one of the most successful (though still struggling) efforts to bring peace to a war-torn society. - Class Inequity
The New National American Elite — For a time in which we all like to think that we are one of the good guys struggling against the oppressive elites, a provocative article that asks us to consider whether we are part of that elite. - Effective Problem-Solving Efforts
Biden Administration Proposes Evenly Cutting Water Allotments From Colorado River — A classic example of a negative-sum game and the complex, high-stakes political conflict that surrounds it. - Political Dysfunction
The New Truth -- When the moral imperative trumps the rational evidence, there’s no arguing — A provocative essay exploring the conflict over whether the truth is an end in itself or whether it must be adjusted to meet some higher purpose. - Developing a Unifying Vision
He Made His Country Rich, but Something Has Gone Wrong With the System — From Singapore, a report on one of the principal alternatives to democracy -- a supposedly benevolent kind of authoritarianism. - Class Inequity
Supply-Side Progressivism Has a Fatal Flaw — An update on the promise (and the political perils) of an intriguing new strategy for addressing social inequities -- "supply-side progressivism." - Effective Problem Assessment
Could Ice Cream Possibly Be Good for You? — A terrific case study exploring the complexities of what happens when a scientific study challenges the established consensus. - Social Complexity
What Protects Fox News Also Protects Our Democracy — A thoughtful essay that asks us to consider the possibility that legal principles that we find convenient and virtuous today might someday be used against us. - Social Complexity
This Jan. 6 case could make U.S. politics even worse — A look at legal basis of the charges being brought against many of the January 6 protesters and reflections on the possibility that this strategy could be used to silence future critics of the government. - Social Complexity
A Texas-Sized Energy Fiasco — It is a fundamental ecological principle that "you can't do only one thing." This essay applies this principle to the complexities that surround efforts to subsidize wind and solar power. - Improving Problem Assessment
Managing the Metrics of Academic Publishing — For those who would like to rebuild public trust in the trustworthiness of scientific analyses, an article about one area in which reform could really help.
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