4 ms·

Yeah, that doesn't surprise me at all actually. I'm sure both side demonize the other to some extent, and it's our natural reaction to look at them both as equa

Yeah, that doesn't surprise me at all actually. I'm sure both side demonize the other to some extent, and it's our natural reaction to look at them both as equally bad like we're disciplining two siblings or something, but it really seems that right now the left is more melodramatic in the demonization than the right. In my personal experience, quite a few people I've met seem to think if you disagree with them, you must be full of hate, racist, sexist, dumb, a gun slinging Christian, etc.

myfavoritedog 5y ago
It's all part and parcel of the same problem. The default media narrative bubble leans heavily to the left. People trapped in that bubble are overly confident in what they believe. They aren't often exposed to arguments and data that are contrary to what they're told to believe over and over whenever they turn on the TV. So when these trapped people are confronted with opposing arguments or data, they resort to the easy mechanisms that relieve their cognitive dissonance. "You're a racist" "You're a homophobe" "You're a white supremacist" "You want sick people to die in the streets"
aidenn0 5y ago
My wife (who is pretty far left), observed that Trump was actually many of the things that G.W. Bush was accused of being. I think a major tenet of post-trump Republicanism is roughly: "We're going to be accused of being racist and conspiracy theorists by the left no matter what we do, so there is only an upside to openly courting those members of the electorate.
ookdatnog 5y ago
As someone left-leaning, I've always tried to be understanding and compassionate towards those with differing viewpoints. When Trump was campaigning, although I loath the man (and, to be clear, I believe he's outright evil), I did try to understand the viewpoint of "forgotten America" and see them as people whose frustrations are legitimate. But then Trump tried to overturn the presidential election by attempting to have millions of votes thrown out unceremoniously, without a shred of evidence, with a constantly shifting story. This constitutes no less than an attempted coup. Although some people in the Republican party resisted this, in the end, the party decided not to purge Trump and his supporters (which would be the appropriate response to an attempted coup), and a sizeable portion of the party still publicly stands by him. At the same time, they are openly courting white supremacist militias and conspiracy theorists. There are no other words for this: this is evil. Continued support for the Republican party is evil, as long as they have not purged Trumpism from the party.
- username90 5y ago
  And the Democrats completely want to dismantle the police and let criminals run free on the streets. It is true, I saw these cherry picked quotes and the democrats still supports those politicans! How can you support them when they are pro crime? You are a horrible person, just like everyone else who votes Democrats and thinks that government handouts are more important than ensuring that rapists and murderers can't continue to rape and murder!!! /s I hope you realize the problem here. Republicans doesn't really support ending democracy, similarly Democrats doesn't support ending the police. Those are just what the other side thinks that side wants.
  - ookdatnog 5y ago
    Defunding the police, government handouts, etc etc, whether you are in favor or against them, are policy decisions that some factions within the Democratic party are striving for using democratic (small 'd') methods. That is, if these factions can convince a majority of people to defund the police, then the police will get defunded. That is how democracy works. If you disagree with defunding the police but with significant other parts of the Democratic platform, you can ally with these people on some issues but fight them on this issue. This is also how democracy works. Trump attempted to stay in power even though the people voted against him. This is tyranny. Working with him, in any way, is a subversion of democracy. Anyone who is willing to work with him is, by extension, an enemy of democracy. The only logical conclusion from your post is that you are against democracy: You argue that a policy you disagree with (defunding the police) getting implemented democratically, is a similar level of "bad" as a tyrant being installed. This means that you are willing to see a tyrant installed if the alternative is (democratically chosen!) policy being enacted that you disagree with. Seems like textbook authoritarianism to me.

myfavoritedog 5y ago

It's all part and parcel of the same problem. The default media narrative bubble leans heavily to the left. People trapped in that bubble are overly confident in what they believe. They aren't often exposed to arguments and data that are contrary to what they're told to believe over and over whenever they turn on the TV. So when these trapped people are confronted with opposing arguments or data, they resort to the easy mechanisms that relieve their cognitive dissonance. "You're a racist" "You're a homophobe" "You're a white supremacist" "You want sick people to die in the streets"

aidenn0 5y ago

My wife (who is pretty far left), observed that Trump was actually many of the things that G.W. Bush was accused of being. I think a major tenet of post-trump Republicanism is roughly: "We're going to be accused of being racist and conspiracy theorists by the left no matter what we do, so there is only an upside to openly courting those members of the electorate.

ookdatnog 5y ago

As someone left-leaning, I've always tried to be understanding and compassionate towards those with differing viewpoints. When Trump was campaigning, although I loath the man (and, to be clear, I believe he's outright evil), I did try to understand the viewpoint of "forgotten America" and see them as people whose frustrations are legitimate. But then Trump tried to overturn the presidential election by attempting to have millions of votes thrown out unceremoniously, without a shred of evidence, with a constantly shifting story. This constitutes no less than an attempted coup. Although some people in the Republican party resisted this, in the end, the party decided not to purge Trump and his supporters (which would be the appropriate response to an attempted coup), and a sizeable portion of the party still publicly stands by him. At the same time, they are openly courting white supremacist militias and conspiracy theorists. There are no other words for this: this is evil. Continued support for the Republican party is evil, as long as they have not purged Trumpism from the party.

username90 5y ago
And the Democrats completely want to dismantle the police and let criminals run free on the streets. It is true, I saw these cherry picked quotes and the democrats still supports those politicans! How can you support them when they are pro crime? You are a horrible person, just like everyone else who votes Democrats and thinks that government handouts are more important than ensuring that rapists and murderers can't continue to rape and murder!!! /s I hope you realize the problem here. Republicans doesn't really support ending democracy, similarly Democrats doesn't support ending the police. Those are just what the other side thinks that side wants.
- ookdatnog 5y ago
  Defunding the police, government handouts, etc etc, whether you are in favor or against them, are policy decisions that some factions within the Democratic party are striving for using democratic (small 'd') methods. That is, if these factions can convince a majority of people to defund the police, then the police will get defunded. That is how democracy works. If you disagree with defunding the police but with significant other parts of the Democratic platform, you can ally with these people on some issues but fight them on this issue. This is also how democracy works. Trump attempted to stay in power even though the people voted against him. This is tyranny. Working with him, in any way, is a subversion of democracy. Anyone who is willing to work with him is, by extension, an enemy of democracy. The only logical conclusion from your post is that you are against democracy: You argue that a policy you disagree with (defunding the police) getting implemented democratically, is a similar level of "bad" as a tyrant being installed. This means that you are willing to see a tyrant installed if the alternative is (democratically chosen!) policy being enacted that you disagree with. Seems like textbook authoritarianism to me.