Political polarization often means that constitutional laws that are needed are not passed, or we get extremist, counterproductive versions that are. Of course, there are times that no law on the topic is the best course. There are lots of solutions in search of problems out there.
We are all familiar with the 'echo chamber' effect. Here's a great article on the topic. If you are into Facebook, or get all your info. off the internet think again. Ever heard of a 'newspaper' or 'news magazine'? Try not to limit yourself to just one of each. You can read them free at your public or educational library, and please read this article. No, it's not about the alleged liberal bias of Facebook, its about our lack of critical thinking and own, internal, automatic, anti-intellectual, ignorance-feeding, tendencies. We also need to remember that as we reach senior status, it seems our open-mindedness seems to take a hit.
See this free article on propaganda and persuasion.
See this article from Wikipedia.
I strongly recommend R. Paul and L. Elder's very short and inexpensive book "Critical Thinking: Concepts and Tools."
From Bernays to Goebbels to Madison Avenue to spin and spiking. So what's new?
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What's new is the effect and use of relatively new technology. It makes the problem even worse esp. because of its easy availability and addictive tendencies. But you are right, propaganda has been with us for a long, long time.
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