This past September 11 saw the 23rd anniversary of the infamous 2001 attacks, and among the attendees of the 9/11 Memorial ceremony were public figures such as Chuck Schumer, Michael Bloomberg, and JD Vance, the latter of whom being a breath of fresh air as the Republican vice presidential nominee. While Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were also in attendance, their presence seemed more of an attempt to win public favor than a genuine act of respect. The 2024 U.S. presidential election surely left many people discontented and disappointed rather than cheering across the globe. So, it’s no wonder that Merriam-Webster’s word of the year turned out to be ‘polarization’.
There isn’t anything surprising about it. ‘Polarization’ does signify a division, but it points to a divide that falls more towards radical ends rather than a healthy center. Americans, during the election, faced extreme splitting views, as if the counterpart’s prospect held a grim future for America. A survey traced these sentiments among voters, marking an evident fear of extremism in both camps.
This divide wasn’t restricted to the Harris and Trump campaign alone. There was a sturdy division in the validity of the views and policies that these people advocated. While eight out of ten Harris voters were concerned about Trump’s extremist views, the same concern arose amongst seven out of ten Trump supporters when it came to Harris’s agenda. It’s as if the decency of political discourse ran haywire across the spectrum.
This concept of ‘polarization’ takes a more extensive leap than just politics. The science and metaphor embedded in it elaborates further upon causing hardened disagreements among opposing groups, which was certainly the highlight of last year. In contrast, this year, the term finds relevance as major parts of the U.S. grapple with agreeing upon what actually stands true. In times of such differences, the dictionary remains a crucial, unbiased mediator of meaning amidst the jungle of ‘alternative facts’.
Notably, ‘polarization’ isn’t locking horns solely in the political arena. It is equally representative of fractures new and old across pop culture, technology, and several other industries. Casting spotlights on trivial matters such as arguments regarding Taylor Swift’s private jet or the beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, it seems like there is no escape from this pervasive division.
Our public discourse has even reached to the point where an entity like the International Olympic Committee and its decision to strip American gymnast Jordan Chiles of her bronze medal post the Paris Games has become a bone of contention. ‘Polarizing’ seems to be the go-to word to describe our current societal climate.
Such polarization penetrates even the light-hearted realm of memes. Take, for instance, the humorous activities surrounding the performances of the ‘down under’ breakdancer, Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn, or the omnipresent look-alike contests. Even the determination of what qualifies as ‘nepo baby’ creates ripples of division among the chatter on social media platforms.
However, the word ‘polarization’ bizarrely seems to unify people’s understanding of it. In an age where everything under the sun sparks controversy, it may be comforting to know that at least the connotations of this word remain stable for everyone.
Merriam-Webster listed many varied types of words in their top 10 for 2024, such as ‘Demure’, ‘Fortnight’, ‘Totality’, ‘Resonate’, ‘Allision’, ‘Weird’, ‘Cognitive’, ‘Pander’, and most ironically, given the disastrous state of our current politics, ‘Democracy’.
Let us not forget that ‘Democracy’ was first pegged as the Word of the Year by Merriam-Webster back in 2003. Despite the ensuing years and the multitude of definitions, this specific signifier of a form of government where the people elect their representatives continues to be one of the most researched words across the globe.
Democracy was supposed to serve as a system where people choose their representatives to make decisions, policies, and laws that benefit the nation. Unfortunately, under the Biden-Harris leadership, this term is on the verge of losing its idealistic association.
It empowers viewers with an interesting perspective, to observe the words that encapsulated the essence of each year according to Merriam-Webster. ‘Authentic’ in 2023, ‘Gaslighting’ in 2022, and ‘Vaccine’ in 2021 convey the prevalent state of affairs during those years.
Taking a look back into further history, ‘Pandemic’ was the chosen word for 2020, which sadly requires no further explanation. ‘They’, the term that echoes the struggle for inclusivity, was selected in 2019. ‘Justice’ made its message clear in 2018, whereas ‘Feminism’ stood out in 2017.
Meanwhile, ‘Surreal’ was the expression of 2016, as per the world-famous dictionary. It was perhaps a word alluding to the unexpected political changes globally, including the surprise election of Donald Trump. For 2015, the word was ‘Ism’, a suffix that holds within itself a multitude of ideologies and philosophies.
Then there’s ‘Culture’, the word representing 2014, and in retrospect, the start of the massive ideological shifts that continue to this day. Picturing the societal landscape via these words of the year can be astonishing, for it mirrors the changing frame of human consciousness over time.
Conclusively, it appears that the state of our discourse today, irrespective of field or subject, has succumbed to the forces of polarization. This sociopolitical situation seems to have led us into an era dominated by division and disagreement. One can but hope for a future where unity overrides division and where the Word of the Year becomes ‘Unity’ or ‘Harmony’, rather than ‘Polarization’. Surely, real democratic values don’t involve such stark divisions.