It'll take decades, but… what approaches are worth trying?
Here's an example: Get X (10?) million people to watch 10 hours/year of strangers who they would normally not encounter or agree with, and to understand them as real people.
To do that, produce and televise+stream a long-form TV show, like a version of Braver Angels' Red/Blue Workshops[1] that's actually enjoyable to watch. Imagine a well-produced show with deep participant profiles - a cross between a reality TV show and a binge-watchable Netflix/HBO series.
It would humanize the participants first, then after viewers care about them, their lives, and their families, the actors would gradually explain their backgrounds and opinions - some of which a viewer will disagree with. This uses TV to scale up the "Contact hypothesis"[2]: viewers would "meet" and hear from people they may not interact with regularly. Just like all TV, the producers would have an agenda. (Sarah Silverman's "I Love You, America"[3] is the closest I've seen to this, and it's not all that close.)
I'm only giving this as an example. What approaches do you think would be worth testing?
Assume you have decades plus unlimited philanthropic and/or public funds. For the sake of argument, imagine Mark Zuckerberg decided that a divided America is bad for Facebook's valuation and seeded this project with a $1 billion donation. It took over 20 years to get here and it'll take decades to undo it.
[1]: Braver Angels: https://braverangels.org/what-we-do/red-blue-workshops/
[2]: Contact hypothesis AKA intergroup contact theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_hypothesis
[3]: I Love You, America: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmQpf-B94mc
(This question came out of a thread comment yesterday: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25021438)
Some key aspects of connection and possible solutions include:
1. Umvelt. Understanding others from their own reference frame.
Being able to state another's perspective in a way that they can identify with.
2. Self Awareness. Understanding ourselves as best we can and being able to recognise our own needs and the needs of others.
Nonviolent communication is a general category of the type of communication which I believe best helps people communicate across differences.
I think both these and numerous other techniques can be embedded into the design of numerous games and applications that people will joyfully participate in for these reasons and for others. For the simple nutrition of participation in something larger than ourselves.
Koko was the name of a kikbot that helped teens encourage each other. A different design might encourage deeper communication across greater distances.
The same designs that help people communicate across perspectival differences can help people learn new languages and aquire new skills.
These problems are not limited to borders and neither should our search for solutions be confines to individual cultures. This is a global problem. Addressing it alongside other problems, working together towards greater solutions, might be the only way we survive long enough to enjoy the impossibly wonderful future that awaits us if we do make it through.
Find ways to revitalize the economies of impoverished rural areas (Not handouts! That breeds dependency and resentment.) so that they can share in the wealth of the next economic boom.
I'm not on Facebook, but I was astonished at the level of polarisation.