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Right, if we force ourselves to be declared enemies of anyone who does not share our world view, then nobody will grow, and people will just get more entrenched

Right, if we force ourselves to be declared enemies of anyone who does not share our world view, then nobody will grow, and people will just get more entrenched in their bubbles. This reminds me of a podcast, incidentally "The Daily" produced by NYTimes, where a former white nationalist tells a quite fascinating story about how he completely changed his mind about the white nationalist movement after being regularly invited to dinners by his Jewish friend whom he met in college. If anyone is interested, the episode can be found here: https://dfkfj8j276wwv.cloudfront.net/episodes/d7b8650b-3ef3-42c5-a1ce-c548463b04db/b11553ee2b88f5539c6a3d5827c84b38496d0373daca83c4f71d6d47cc359956249c3a1adbe4ad0ec89ff2c2225c641db67f5d90fe2786bfde111ba5b97d30a5/TD%20Aug%2022%20FINAL%20no%20ad%20break.mp3 https://dfkfj8j276wwv.cloudfront.net/episodes/d7b8650b-3ef3-...

ulrikrasmussen 9y ago
Let me add that listening to his story helped me understand that white nationalism, or any form of bigotry really, is mostly about identity and belonging to a group, often their own family who subscribe to the same ideals. By offering your friendship to such a person, you also offer an alternative. By declaring your friendship over because of your differences, you not only lose a friend, you also validate that other person in his/her views and help him paint a picture of you and people who think like you as the enemy. It saddens me that so many people think that it is unforgivable to have a history of friendship with a person like that, and I am genuinely scared that the fear of backlash from the internet means that public figures will be forced to reinforce a stereotypical good/evil picture of society. Then we will truly all lose in the end.
- mc32 9y ago
  It's very sad that in today's climate people can't be associated with Louis Farrakhan or Steve Bannon for fear the outraged masses will make the implication to befriend such people means you submit to their particular theories of politics and other belief systems. It's utterly juvenile and should be condemned by our thinkers and influencers.

ulrikrasmussen 9y ago

Let me add that listening to his story helped me understand that white nationalism, or any form of bigotry really, is mostly about identity and belonging to a group, often their own family who subscribe to the same ideals. By offering your friendship to such a person, you also offer an alternative. By declaring your friendship over because of your differences, you not only lose a friend, you also validate that other person in his/her views and help him paint a picture of you and people who think like you as the enemy. It saddens me that so many people think that it is unforgivable to have a history of friendship with a person like that, and I am genuinely scared that the fear of backlash from the internet means that public figures will be forced to reinforce a stereotypical good/evil picture of society. Then we will truly all lose in the end.

mc32 9y ago
It's very sad that in today's climate people can't be associated with Louis Farrakhan or Steve Bannon for fear the outraged masses will make the implication to befriend such people means you submit to their particular theories of politics and other belief systems. It's utterly juvenile and should be condemned by our thinkers and influencers.