Are agriculture and nature poles apart?
The trickiest of decisions are those where either/or is out of the question.
The farmers’ protests in Belgium have been continuing unabated this past week, though an agreement was reached Friday morning. One of their grievances is their feeling that their interests come a distant second to the protection of the natural environment in government policy, which includes the purchase of agricultural land to turn it into conservation areas. In a radio news bulletin Tuesday morning, correspondent Sanne Baeck reported that farmers blamed the politicians for “polarizing between agriculture and nature” — an interesting turn of phrase, describing the situation perhaps more precisely than might first appear.
The term ‘polarization’ has been gaining currency recently, as it captures the growing erosion of political compromise on a wide range of issues, the relentless emphasis on ideological divides (often with limited ties to the political families’ traditional values) and, ultimately, identity politics. This trend is particularly apparent in nations where political life is dominated by two parties, which have evolved into polar opposites. But such polar opposites arise everywhere, not only in party politics.
