Issue 144: People dislike their political opponents for views most don't actually hold (and a Thanksgiving/Black Friday 20% discount on on paid subscriptions)
Although I'm not particularly religious, I think the New Testament also came to the same conclusion.
"Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while there is a beam in your own? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." Matthew 7:3-5
Good to see some scientific confirmation of what we've suspected about human behavior for a while.
I could see where the behavior of judging outgroups as more extreme, based on perceived prevalence of extreme positions, could extend beyond politics. Are you aware of any studies that have looked at this behavior outside of politics (i.e. Race, Ethnicity, Organizational Function...)?
A problem with studies and claims like this -- ones that denounce the politically exclusive for exaggerating their differences with the other side -- is that right now, one side of the political divide really and truly is more extreme than the other. A generation ago, nearly all American parents would have agreed that they would hate for their child to marry someone who would work to bring to power (AFTER knowing all this about them!) someone who did everything they could to overthrow an American election, sent a mob of supporters who violently invaded the Capitol and watched them on TV for hours without calling on them to stop, illegally stole boxes of classified material from the government and kept them in a bathroom, and bragged on tape of sexually assaulting women. Today, about half of the electorate carries on this traditional view which has been the consensus view of nearly all voters in American history; but half of the electorate ardently disagrees. If Benjamin Franklin would hate having his child marry such a person, and Harriet Tubman would hate having her child marry such a person, and Martin Luther King, and FDR, and Teddy Roosevelt, and Eisenhower, and JFK, and Reagan... why is it so bad of me to hate that idea, too?
Sure, it's incorrect for liberals to assume that conservatives all want to put women who get abortions in jail, and abolish public education. But it's correct for liberals to assume that conservatives who support Trump are willing to give presidential power to the person I described above. There are, quite simply, no good people who support Trump -- only those who care so little for decency and our Constitutional democracy that they are willing to scrap them, and those who are too foolish to pay enough attention to realize that.
I get your point, but I think what many people on the left fail to understand is that many people on the right would also not want their child to marry such a person. However, although they might not be happy about some of Trump's personal qualities, they prefer his policies over those of the left. It would be great to have a candidate who one really liked personally and who also had better policies, but in politics one doesn't always have that option.
The different perspective is that the minority that people are perceived as 'extreme left' hold 90% of political influence right now. Hollywood,academia,schools,scientific institutions,mainstrem media,journalism and social media moderation. And if the moderate left that is the majority doesn't push back at all they would rather side with Trump beside his faults. Feel free to call anyone who hold this view 'not good people', but i don't think it is gonna change minds
I understand that you honestly Believe what you're saying. But suppose you threw a dart at a map, found the nearest city, picked a random government agency, and tracked down the director. What kind of a person do you think that is? Do you truly think that person is "extreme left"? I live in just about the most extreme left town in America; the city council voted to extend domestic benefits to multiple polyamorous partners. You know what towns haven't done that? All the other towns in my state! Because the extreme left does not hold 90% of political influence.
Great article! Thanks for sharing Steve.
Although I'm not particularly religious, I think the New Testament also came to the same conclusion.
"Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while there is a beam in your own? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." Matthew 7:3-5
Good to see some scientific confirmation of what we've suspected about human behavior for a while.
I could see where the behavior of judging outgroups as more extreme, based on perceived prevalence of extreme positions, could extend beyond politics. Are you aware of any studies that have looked at this behavior outside of politics (i.e. Race, Ethnicity, Organizational Function...)?
A problem with studies and claims like this -- ones that denounce the politically exclusive for exaggerating their differences with the other side -- is that right now, one side of the political divide really and truly is more extreme than the other. A generation ago, nearly all American parents would have agreed that they would hate for their child to marry someone who would work to bring to power (AFTER knowing all this about them!) someone who did everything they could to overthrow an American election, sent a mob of supporters who violently invaded the Capitol and watched them on TV for hours without calling on them to stop, illegally stole boxes of classified material from the government and kept them in a bathroom, and bragged on tape of sexually assaulting women. Today, about half of the electorate carries on this traditional view which has been the consensus view of nearly all voters in American history; but half of the electorate ardently disagrees. If Benjamin Franklin would hate having his child marry such a person, and Harriet Tubman would hate having her child marry such a person, and Martin Luther King, and FDR, and Teddy Roosevelt, and Eisenhower, and JFK, and Reagan... why is it so bad of me to hate that idea, too?
Sure, it's incorrect for liberals to assume that conservatives all want to put women who get abortions in jail, and abolish public education. But it's correct for liberals to assume that conservatives who support Trump are willing to give presidential power to the person I described above. There are, quite simply, no good people who support Trump -- only those who care so little for decency and our Constitutional democracy that they are willing to scrap them, and those who are too foolish to pay enough attention to realize that.
I get your point, but I think what many people on the left fail to understand is that many people on the right would also not want their child to marry such a person. However, although they might not be happy about some of Trump's personal qualities, they prefer his policies over those of the left. It would be great to have a candidate who one really liked personally and who also had better policies, but in politics one doesn't always have that option.
The different perspective is that the minority that people are perceived as 'extreme left' hold 90% of political influence right now. Hollywood,academia,schools,scientific institutions,mainstrem media,journalism and social media moderation. And if the moderate left that is the majority doesn't push back at all they would rather side with Trump beside his faults. Feel free to call anyone who hold this view 'not good people', but i don't think it is gonna change minds
I understand that you honestly Believe what you're saying. But suppose you threw a dart at a map, found the nearest city, picked a random government agency, and tracked down the director. What kind of a person do you think that is? Do you truly think that person is "extreme left"? I live in just about the most extreme left town in America; the city council voted to extend domestic benefits to multiple polyamorous partners. You know what towns haven't done that? All the other towns in my state! Because the extreme left does not hold 90% of political influence.