Israel or Palestine. Campbell Newman or Labor. The far Left versus the far Right. Ensuring animals are not subject to cruel killings versus those who dare relish a steak sandwich.
The list of extremes go on. Jacqui Lambie is either an idiot or a comedian. Tony Abbott is viewed as a statesman or a joke. Bill Shorten is judged similarly.
No casinos or 23 of them. Soft sentences or a register for all pedophiles. No homework versus after-school activities that leave six-year-olds exhausted by Wednesday.
Banning genuine asylum seekers into our waters or allowing people smugglers to take control over our borders. Suggesting a politician is wrong or taking to twitter to launch a tirade of personal abuse against them.
Is anyone else missing a middle-ground in public discourse at the moment? A conversation where both sides might be a little bit right, and a little bit wrong?
Israel and Palestine is a terrific international example at a time when the world seems to be going mad - from problems in Russia, Nigeria, eastern Syria, north-western Iraq, eastern Ukraine, the list goes on.
But when so many civilians are being killed on both sides - particularly children - and a ceasefire amounts to a short period in which one side is allowed to pull small dead bodies from rubble, it’s time to think neither side is blameless.
And it’s understandable that in Australia there are good people who support both sides a little bit and others who don't support either side for the same reason.
The secret footage of animals being subject to cruel practices is another case in point. That has to be stamped out.
But does it mean that CCTV cameras should be hidden in abattoirs? And, if they are there, why not in your own workplace too? Should Barnaby Joyce be labelled a "bastard" by some critics because his view doesn't mirror their own?
This particular issue has been a shining example of how hate can take over from debate. How else could the illegal abuse of animals become a lightening rod to attack anyone who loves a good steak sandwich?
On a personal level, it's just as black or white. Jacqui Lambie is an unsophisticated new politician. Does that mean her comments about well-hung men deserve her being relegated to evil status?
Could it be that an open mike and a bout of nerves meant she was genuinely taking the mickey out of her own love life? Or just trying to be funny and failed? Why was it automatically a pre-mediated assault on decency?
Not everyone is perfect all of the time, and those encouraging the extremism we are seeing in debates - ranging from the Middle East to Tim Carmody - are not helping anyone.
In part it’s the media’s fault. Friction makes for a better story. In part it’s our politicians’ fault; they want to grandstand in the headline. And others like Campbell Newman have created a legacy of picking fights where someone is either for his government, or against it. He can’t countenance that voters might like some things he does, and hate others.
And voters or readers or listeners are partly responsible too. The newspaper or website with the most outlandish story on offer - or the word sex - will always be read more than anything else.
Perhaps it’s time we all played a part in pulling back to the middle ground. Perhaps some privatisation might work in Queensland.
Perhaps there is a reasonable solution to the horror of animal cruelty that both sides could work to achieve.
The middle ground in any debate might not be all shouty and neon-lit, but long-term it might provide a better solution. And even a more civil society.
Email: mk@madonnaking.com.au Twitter: @madonnamking
