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If you see and describe 'the other side' in terms of deplorables as you do, you are as much a part of the polarisation problem as anyone else. Believing about

If you see and describe 'the other side' in terms of deplorables as you do, you are as much a part of the polarisation problem as anyone else. Believing about half of your fellow countrymen are 'awful human beings' is bonkers.

mkr-hn 5y ago
You said deplorables, not me. Clinton is as useless as the rest of them[1]. Maybe follow up and ask for an example before assuming I'm hitting on your favorite political bugaboo or part of The Other Team. Your reply is an example of the problem. >> "Believing about half of your fellow countrymen are 'awful human beings' is bonkers." You said half, not me. You have literally no insight into what I mean and you think you know everything about me because of the media you consume. This is the problem. To be clear: I don't think the noisy few are representative. I think most people don't have strong opinions on anything. That's not great, but I can work with them. But I can't tell whether they're just politically zoned out or waiting for something in a comment to latch on to for an unhinged rant until spending time getting to know them. [1] Historical context for future readers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basket_of_deplorables https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basket_of_deplorables
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pmoriarty 5y ago
Clinton was talking about half of Trump supporters. Even taking that statement literally, that doesn't equate to anywhere near half the country. It would only be a quarter of the country if every person in the country voted and if half went to Clinton and half to Trump. But we know that more people voted for Clinton, so just because of that the Trump-supporting half would be even less than that... and yet less than that because a lot of people don't vote. Also, let's remember that Clinton said this during the campaign, when everyone (including Clinton) thought that Clinton had way more support than Trump, so she was expecting that Trump supporters were much fewer in number than they actually were. So that makes the total numbers she was (figuratively, not literally) talking about fewer still. I grant your larger point about polarization, however. It's hard to see who in the US political arena is not contributing to ever greater polarization. Somehow we need to deescalate before more serious violence occurs.

mkr-hn 5y ago

You said deplorables, not me. Clinton is as useless as the rest of them[1]. Maybe follow up and ask for an example before assuming I'm hitting on your favorite political bugaboo or part of The Other Team. Your reply is an example of the problem. >> "Believing about half of your fellow countrymen are 'awful human beings' is bonkers." You said half, not me. You have literally no insight into what I mean and you think you know everything about me because of the media you consume. This is the problem. To be clear: I don't think the noisy few are representative. I think most people don't have strong opinions on anything. That's not great, but I can work with them. But I can't tell whether they're just politically zoned out or waiting for something in a comment to latch on to for an unhinged rant until spending time getting to know them. [1] Historical context for future readers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basket_of_deplorables https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basket_of_deplorables

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pmoriarty 5y ago

Clinton was talking about half of Trump supporters. Even taking that statement literally, that doesn't equate to anywhere near half the country. It would only be a quarter of the country if every person in the country voted and if half went to Clinton and half to Trump. But we know that more people voted for Clinton, so just because of that the Trump-supporting half would be even less than that... and yet less than that because a lot of people don't vote. Also, let's remember that Clinton said this during the campaign, when everyone (including Clinton) thought that Clinton had way more support than Trump, so she was expecting that Trump supporters were much fewer in number than they actually were. So that makes the total numbers she was (figuratively, not literally) talking about fewer still. I grant your larger point about polarization, however. It's hard to see who in the US political arena is not contributing to ever greater polarization. Somehow we need to deescalate before more serious violence occurs.