I've known plenty of people who I thought of as good people, until you learned how they believed a lot of other things, and why they believed them (both for causes I support and oppose). I've...
I've known plenty of people who I thought of as good people, until you learned how they believed a lot of other things, and why they believed them (both for causes I support and oppose). I've noticed that in the past few years I've been edging towards the "insufferable liberal" stereotype, with strong emotional responses to things I simply don't like (it's also likely tied into anger issues), but the response has been a chore to fight.
I think the other issue is even fifteen years ago even if you had a "Republican" or a "Democrat" sitting next to you, it was a part of their personality, but not a majorly defining feature. If you avoided politics, in general, you'd get along just fine. The problem is the culture war, or the appropriately labelled "cold civil war" has also affected these previously safe genres of discourse and connection, accelerating this division. The one difference has become the defining difference in a way.
EDIT: I "thought of them as good people," but I've got this thing where I sort of judge people by how they come to certain sorts of conclusions, especially if these opinions tie into any sort of societal/social contexts. Part of the point, I think, is an "ignorance is bliss" situation about those we would vehemently disagree with, when the opinions are reserved for the ballot.
I've known plenty of people who I thought of as good people, until you learned how they believed a lot of other things, and why they believed them (both for causes I support and oppose). I've noticed that in the past few years I've been edging towards the "insufferable liberal" stereotype, with strong emotional responses to things I simply don't like (it's also likely tied into anger issues), but the response has been a chore to fight.
I think the other issue is even fifteen years ago even if you had a "Republican" or a "Democrat" sitting next to you, it was a part of their personality, but not a majorly defining feature. If you avoided politics, in general, you'd get along just fine. The problem is the culture war, or the appropriately labelled "cold civil war" has also affected these previously safe genres of discourse and connection, accelerating this division. The one difference has become the defining difference in a way.
EDIT: I "thought of them as good people," but I've got this thing where I sort of judge people by how they come to certain sorts of conclusions, especially if these opinions tie into any sort of societal/social contexts. Part of the point, I think, is an "ignorance is bliss" situation about those we would vehemently disagree with, when the opinions are reserved for the ballot.