Research suggests that your own preference for a certain chocolate brand can be changed by the sight of a political leader you dislike enjoying it. – Photo: Hendrik Schmidt/dpa
Families were divided, brother fought brother, children denounced parents, everyone was a spy: Anyone from a country with a civil war or a Stalin or Mao-type purge in its 19th or 20th century history would have heard such laments while growing up.
But warnings from history often go unheeded, and more recently, political polarization in countries like the US, Spain and Argentina has reached such a nadir that some on social media have advocated shunning even next-of-kin who vote for the other or 'wrong' side.
