Yes, but...

Remember that phrase, “Yes, but…”? It was the phrase used when someone didn’t want to take a stance on a topic. But, wonders Andrew Sullivan, in the age of polarization, has that reviled phrase become the need of the hour?

“One of the enduring frustrations of living in a politically polarized country is the evaporation of nuance. As the muscles of liberal democracy atrophy, and as cultural tribalism infects everyone’s consciousness, it becomes more and more difficult to say, “Yes, but …”

Sullivan clarifies:

“It’s important to point out that the “yes, but” formula is not about “both sides-ing” everything, or picking a middle position every time. It’s about getting things right.”

 

It is easy to understand why the “Yes, but…” phrase can be so annoying:

“Everyone hates the but. It complicates; it muddles; it can disable a slogan; and puncture a politically useful myth.”

So much easier to take a binary Yes/No, true/false, good/evil stance. This is especially true on political matters, and of course, today, everything is political.

 

America is proof that polarization isn’t limited to only when some right-wing guy is in power. After all, it isn’t as if America got less polarized after Biden won. Take the topic of Ukraine. A balanced approach would be:

“Yes, we should support Ukraine in its defense against invasion … but it is highly unlikely Kyiv will ever recapture the entire country, and some kind of negotiated settlement is going to be needed in the foreseeable future.”

Do you think that’s what the left says in America? No, the matter is completely binary for the left now when they are in power. Putin must go is their slogan. As if a regime change will either be peaceful, or predictable in what follows next. The American left obviously hasn’t learnt anything from Iraq because hey, that was a blunder made by the right, not them…

 

So yes, in our mature moments:

“(We may seek) a place where these distinctions can be made, compromises can be forged, and tribal loyalty can be qualified by reality.”

 

But the longer the polarization lasts, the harder it becomes to break out of it:

“The trouble, of course, is the emotional and tribal inadequacy of these “yes, but”s. You’ll get lambasted by your friends and fellow partisans the second you concede anything to the opposite side. And social media — the recent jet engine for our political discourse — rewards simplicity, emotion and tribalism.”

 

An attitude of moral superiority doesn’t help in such a situation, but unfortunately, both the left and the right carry a lot of it.