WWW: Web Wide Warfare Part 2 - Towards a Deeper Healing of the Online Culture Wars

This article represents the second of two on the subject of the culture wars, especially in its online expression. The first (Anthony, 2020) analyzed problematic aspects of ＂blue tribe＂ consciousness (roughly, the political left) and how those issues are being influenced by the internet, education systems and globalization; as well as civilizational and psycho-spiritual dynamics. This second article takes a broader perspective, examining both blue and red (roughly, the political right) tribes, and argues that solutions to the broader problems surrounding the culture wars and its tribalism are unlikely to work successfully without honest introspection. To this end, ＂shadow＂ work employing processes and insights by introspective psychologists like Carl Jung and mindfulness practitioners Leonard Jacobson and Eckhart Tolle may be helpful, especially if deployed along with other systemic interventions. Anthony's (2007, 2010) Harmonic Circles process is briefly described as a specific healing process. Conversely, processes based only around technological intervention and regulation of behaviour are unlikely to work by themselves, as they typically do not address deeper psycho-spiritual drivers. It is argued that introspection and shadow work may help facilitate a more effective dialogue with ＂the other＂ by neutralizing judgmental projections which tend to dehumanize tribal opponents, while encouraging a more honest appraisal of sources of conflict which lie within one's own group. Finally, it is argued that developing a strong motivation to transcend the tribal split is ideal.