What I’m talking about is what seems to be the polarization of the population in just about every major aspect of life. It’s like the bell curve is reversing. The number of middle-of-the-road’ers is decreasing while the number of outliers is spiking. The obvious example is of course politics where it seems there really is no such thing as a “swing voter” anymore, and those on the left are REALLY on the left and those on the right are REALLY on the right. Not only that the the number of mutally agreed upon issues is getting smaller and smaller. But it’s not limited to politics (perhaps the polarization of politics is as much a symptom of a larger phenomenon that anything else). Look at spirituality. People have been flocking to spirituality and not just the mainstream religions (though for the most part they have been growing too). The so-called “casual christian” (I’m using the common christian term, but I really think it can be applied to any spirituality) is dying out, while people of every spiritual path are starting to more actively incorporate their respective paths into their daily lives (whether or not they are appropriately interpreting or executing their claimed belief system is a separate question). Meanwhile, atheism is growing nearly as rapidly and the atheists are staying quiet any more. And true agnosticism is a rare find with most “agnostics” being atheists who don’t want to call themselves atheists. For the record, I’m not casting judgement here on anybody, simply noting my observation.

Any of the GOP faithful will be quick to tell you that we’re not technically in a recession, and yet average folks can’t afford to feed their families. If the market is busy making rich folks even more money, yet even most white-collar families are having to tighten their belts, then where exactly is the “middle-class?” Seems that the paychecks that used to make folks “upper-middle class” are now only barely bumping them into the “lower-middle class” range, if they are lucky. Gas and food prices don’t show any signs of dropping, which is just going to price more and more folks out of the middle class. Yet those prices are in part the very thing lining the pockets of the rich.

Healthy habits are doing the same thing. Grocery stores shelves are lined with the latest organic foodstuffs, health food stores are expanding, vitamin and supplement sales are increasing and people are learning how their bodies work, what they’re bodies need and how to stay healthy. Yet at the same time, McDonald’s is packed with people who eat there 7 days a week and restaurant portions are enough to feed a small country. Even intelliegence seems to be flipping the bell curve. The smart people I know are incredibly brilliant, where as those who aren’t so smart, well, just leave it at them being not so smart.

So there it is. Don’t know what it means. Don’t know if it’s right. Don’t know why I keep noticing it here and there.