More on civil discourse

The thread of discussion dealing with civil discourse is useful I think for our consideration of the emergent and evolutionary path that society has followed and may follow in the future.

This reflects the thesis of Benjamin Friedman's book - The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth.

A review of the book captures what I see as a partial explanation for both the current and historical ebb and flow of civility in public discourse. Toleration and civility is rooted in our view of our own relative position in society. That perception may come from Smith's impartial spectator during times of properity and growth and from the partial spectator during times of decline and stagnation. In other words the external environment and our perception of that environment shapes our civility.

One review suggests of Friedman's book:

This probing study argues that, far from fostering rapacious materialism, economic growth is a prerequisite for the creation of a liberal, open society. Harvard economist Friedman, author of Day of Reckoning: The Consequences of American Economic Policy in the 1980s, contends that periods of robust economic growth, in which most people see their circumstances palpably improving, foster tolerance, democracy and generous public support for the disadvantaged. Economic stagnation and insecurity, by contrast, usher in distrust, retrenchment and reaction, as well as a tightfisted callousness toward the poor and—from the nativism of 19th-century Populists to the white supremacist movement of the 1980s—a scapegoating of immigrants and minorities. Exploring two centuries of historical evidence, from income and unemployment data to period novels, Friedman elucidates connections between economic conditions, social attitudes and public policy throughout the world. He offers a nuanced defense of globalization against claims that it promotes inequality and, less convincingly, remains optimistic that technology will resolve the conflicts between continual growth and environmental degradation.