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A review by cookedw
The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart by Bill Bishop
2.0
This book is interesting but dated. Also, early on in the explanations of the "Big Sort", Bill Bishop the Baby Boomer overemphasizes the boomer sixties' importance and doesn't really pull on how most of what the key events were he's talking about were well underway by that point (he does rectify this a bit later).
In general, the book tells a nice story about how we choose not to surround ourselves with people whose opinions are different, geographically, as we look to live in places that meet our personal needs (examples include Portland for the transit liberals and boonies for the cons who want freedom). There is definitely a lot of truth to this, and I think the pieces on how issues have become so interwoven that when you know someone's position on one you know them all, etc. are fascinating.
But, there is a problem here with a lot of the book being anecdotal, and there is a lot of work out there that suggests Bishop and his coauthor have goosed their data a bit by picking a particular starting point (again, his magic turning point year). The personal stories are often very interesting, but it's a bit convenient and piecemeal.
I think for me the biggest point missing was the lack of a recognition that there is a subset of people in this country encouraging the division. While there is no doubt that people are choosing to sort themselves into geographies and having an echo chamber effect, there have been politicians throughout this time period but particularly in the early parts of his identified "big sort" where there were conscious efforts by politicians to play the "us and them"--that is pretty much literally on what modern conservatism is based, as a response to change. It seems weird to consider "value voters" as a phenomenon of this magic sorting process and not consider fully how politicians' strategies have evolved over the years. He does to some extent when he's discussing the polarization, but it started well before the the big sort was fully underway, and any manipulation/shaping of political narrative gets conveniently left out of his discussion so that he can tell you why it's all our fault.
I do think the saddest part about this book is that it generally rings true and has no real solutions except for a hope that generational turnover will help. Ugh.
In general, the book tells a nice story about how we choose not to surround ourselves with people whose opinions are different, geographically, as we look to live in places that meet our personal needs (examples include Portland for the transit liberals and boonies for the cons who want freedom). There is definitely a lot of truth to this, and I think the pieces on how issues have become so interwoven that when you know someone's position on one you know them all, etc. are fascinating.
But, there is a problem here with a lot of the book being anecdotal, and there is a lot of work out there that suggests Bishop and his coauthor have goosed their data a bit by picking a particular starting point (again, his magic turning point year). The personal stories are often very interesting, but it's a bit convenient and piecemeal.
I think for me the biggest point missing was the lack of a recognition that there is a subset of people in this country encouraging the division. While there is no doubt that people are choosing to sort themselves into geographies and having an echo chamber effect, there have been politicians throughout this time period but particularly in the early parts of his identified "big sort" where there were conscious efforts by politicians to play the "us and them"--that is pretty much literally on what modern conservatism is based, as a response to change. It seems weird to consider "value voters" as a phenomenon of this magic sorting process and not consider fully how politicians' strategies have evolved over the years. He does to some extent when he's discussing the polarization, but it started well before the the big sort was fully underway, and any manipulation/shaping of political narrative gets conveniently left out of his discussion so that he can tell you why it's all our fault.
I do think the saddest part about this book is that it generally rings true and has no real solutions except for a hope that generational turnover will help. Ugh.