[The comparison from Thomas Friedman below is unusually long (compared to most analyzed in this blog). But, that's part of the point. Cruise through the comparison quotations below and then ponder the related observations.]
Comparison:
"Mangroves—those thickets of trees that often live underwater along tropical coastlines—[and consider the amazing functions they] perform in nature. Mangroves filter toxins and pollutants through their extensive roots, they provide buffers against giant waves set off by hurricanes and tsunamis, they create nurseries for young fish to safely mature because their cabled roots keep out large predators, and they literally help hold the shoreline in place."
. . .
Our society itself has lost so many of its social, normative and political mangroves as well-—all those things that used to filter toxic behaviors, buffer political extremism and nurture healthy communities and trusted institutions for young people to grow up in and which hold our society together.
. . .
You see, shame used to be a mangrove. . . . That shame mangrove has been completely uprooted by Trump.
. . .
Trump wants to destroy our social and legal mangroves and leave us in a broken ethical ecosystem, because he and people like him best thrive in a broken system. . . . In nature, as in society, when you lose your mangroves, you get flooding with lots of mud.
. . .
Responsibility, especially among those who have taken oaths of office — another vital mangrove — has also experienced serious destruction.
. . .
Civil discourse and engaging with those with whom you disagree — instead of immediately calling for them to be fired — also used to be mangroves.
. . .
Indeed, civility itself also used to be a mangrove.
. . .
Locally owned small-town newspapers used to be a mangrove buffering the worst of our national politics. A healthy local newspaper is less likely to go too far to one extreme or another, because its owners and editors live in the community and they know that for their local ecosystem to thrive, they need to preserve and nurture healthy interdependencies[.]
. . .
As in nature, it [loss of local sources of information] leaves the local ecosystem with fewer healthy interdependencies, making it more vulnerable to invasive species and disease — or, in society, diseased ideas.
. . .
More than ever, we are living in the “never-ending storm” that Seidman described to me back in 2016, in which moral distinctions, context and perspective — all the things that enable people and politicians to make good judgments — get blown away.
Blown away — that is exactly what happens to the plants, animals and people in an ecosystem that loses its mangroves.
Thomas L. Friedman uses mangroves, and their many characteristics, to cast an inquiring eye on our current cultural dynamics. Do you agree that our many “mangrove“ roots and forests are under severe attack and trouble? Columnists regularly will use a common theme—in this case "mangroves"—to create a common frame and vocabulary to address issues and concerns they hope to highlight. How do you think our mangrove thickets are doing? Do you use common metaphoric points of reference across an entire piece or chapter?
Context:
[The quoted comparisons above are from a Thomas L. Friedman column from 28 May 2024. You're encouraged to read these same comparisons, featuring mangroves, in the original column: https://nyti.ms/3V9f2F8.]
Citation:
Friedman, Thomas L. “How We’ve Lost Our Moorings as a Society.“ New York Times, 28 May 2024. Web.
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