MooreTrucker said:
Your post is all very well-said, but I think this part needs to be repeated:It's the hypocrisy of what you mention that drives me away from any kind of thought of reconciliation with libs. Until they can see and admit that the harassment and violence comes equally, if not more, from the left side of things (yes, as Trump correctly said about Charlottesville, there are bad people on BOTH sides), I got nothin' for 'em.Quote:
Why do I say that? Because many on the left do a disservice by ignoring the existence of violent leftist groups, anti-Christian bias and harassment from the LGB crowd, and many other equivalent incidents. They have convinced themselves of a certain righteousness and the diminutiveness of such events. Adopting that same mindset closes the door on civility, critical discussion, and cooperation. It would make the right just as guilty as the left in the polarization and the fracturing of American society. I would hate for that to be the case.
First, thank you.
There is without doubt hypocrisy there, and it often makes it very hard for me to consider the liberal side of arguments, but there is a certain duality to it. The right can be just as hypocritical and prone to dichotomist thinking.
Case in point, violence against gays. Yes, American society has never been so open and accepting, but that doesn't mean decades of marginalization and the mindset it brought are just going to go away. I'm sure a lot of gay people do still harbor fear, rational or not, and a lot do still experience marginalization. To hear many on this board talk about it, that simply doesn't happen in 2019 and the real victims now are straight, white males (I do agree that there is a lot of prejudice and bias against straight white males thanks in no small part to "intersectionalist" dichotomist thinking), but the truth is probably in the middle.
I think a big part of winning people over from any side will inevitably involve intellectual honesty that some of our personal political ideas, perceptions, and opinions, and some that are very deeply held, might just be wrong. You can't find common ground and agreement with someone, anyone, if you are not capable of doing that. No one person or ideal or perception is unfalsifiably correct (there are no absolutes), so it's asinine to approach every situation and every political discussion with the immediate assumption that you are right and if the other person doesn't agree well then they're just an idiot.
I think there are both good and bad people on both sides, but to really get through to the modern left, we need to look back at the historical left. There are plenty of historical left leaning activists who were able to humanize their opponents and change their minds and attitudes by simply being the bigger person and refusing to engage in the violence and hateful rhetoric of their opposition. Whether social media has made that impossible in this day and age is up for debate, but I think the best thing the right could do in the long term is simply listen while also refusing to yield on policy. Avoid the inflammatory and controversial like Milo Yianoppolous while continuing to promote rational, level headed, and intellectual discussions from people like Jordan Peterson. Let the hardcore leftists make fools of themselves and continue to alienate and push away those who don't agree with them. Eventually, they'll have no one left.
