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My local MP is championing this garbage. It’s really nice to know I don’t need to keep abreast of his opinions on anything because I’m already guaranteed whatev

My local MP is championing this garbage. It’s really nice to know I don’t need to keep abreast of his opinions on anything because I’m already guaranteed whatever it is I’ll whole heartedly disagree with it. He was huge fan of the whole Rwanda idea too. Pure trash.

bratbag 4y ago
That seems like a good way to build a bubble around your political views. Engaging with people you disagree with on new topics is a good health check for your political views
- maxique 4y ago
  "Let's treat the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda as an intellectual exercise in the free marketplace of ideas instead of a humanitarian crisis"
- aftergibson 4y ago
  Or to phrase it another way, let’s listen whatever racist, draconian, bigoted policies or statements my local leader(who I am powerless to influence, I’ve tried) has to say today. If a good health check to my political views comes at the price of an awful mental health check, I’ll pass. I will seek balanced views. Not a car salesman with the power to influence lives.
- agoose77 4y ago
  I hear this kind of discussion mentioned, particularly in the lead-up to the Brexit referendum. I don't think it accurately reflects the status of contemporary discourse. The UK media is more right-leaning than right: - https://www.pewresearch.org/global/fact-sheet/news-media-and-political-attitudes-in-the-united-kingdom/ https://www.pewresearch.org/global/fact-sheet/news-media-and... - https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2017/03/07/how-left-or-right-wing-are-uks-newspapers https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2017/0... I've personally noticed a tone shift since the referendum towards stronger conservative views in the Telegraph and Times. This doesn't seem to be borne out in polling, but I wonder whether that is because the entire political discourse has shifted: - https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/is-the-daily-telegraph-more-favourable-towards-labour-the-left-or-the-conservatives-the-right https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/is-the-daily-t... Because the media are fairly non-central (particularly the right-leaning media), it's not very easy to find compromise. The stances taking by e.g. the Telegraph on transgender rights is fairly non-subtle. I don't think the rights of immigrants qualifies as a discussion where "it's just politics" applies. Since the referendum, the very core rights and institutions at the heart of the UK have been damaged and eroded, and that makes for conflict. I think the context of with whom one is discussing really matters, and online for the most part, there is a strong in-group/out-group identity that makes it very hard to have reasonable discussions that don't dissolve into flame wars. In person, I agree that it's good to be open minded and discuss things with people whose views you might usually not align with. Indirectly related is the Paradox of Tolerance: that tolerance without limit is eventually destroyed by the intolerant.

bratbag 4y ago

That seems like a good way to build a bubble around your political views. Engaging with people you disagree with on new topics is a good health check for your political views

maxique 4y ago
"Let's treat the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda as an intellectual exercise in the free marketplace of ideas instead of a humanitarian crisis"
aftergibson 4y ago
Or to phrase it another way, let’s listen whatever racist, draconian, bigoted policies or statements my local leader(who I am powerless to influence, I’ve tried) has to say today. If a good health check to my political views comes at the price of an awful mental health check, I’ll pass. I will seek balanced views. Not a car salesman with the power to influence lives.
agoose77 4y ago
I hear this kind of discussion mentioned, particularly in the lead-up to the Brexit referendum. I don't think it accurately reflects the status of contemporary discourse. The UK media is more right-leaning than right: - https://www.pewresearch.org/global/fact-sheet/news-media-and-political-attitudes-in-the-united-kingdom/ https://www.pewresearch.org/global/fact-sheet/news-media-and... - https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2017/03/07/how-left-or-right-wing-are-uks-newspapers https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2017/0... I've personally noticed a tone shift since the referendum towards stronger conservative views in the Telegraph and Times. This doesn't seem to be borne out in polling, but I wonder whether that is because the entire political discourse has shifted: - https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/is-the-daily-telegraph-more-favourable-towards-labour-the-left-or-the-conservatives-the-right https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/is-the-daily-t... Because the media are fairly non-central (particularly the right-leaning media), it's not very easy to find compromise. The stances taking by e.g. the Telegraph on transgender rights is fairly non-subtle. I don't think the rights of immigrants qualifies as a discussion where "it's just politics" applies. Since the referendum, the very core rights and institutions at the heart of the UK have been damaged and eroded, and that makes for conflict. I think the context of with whom one is discussing really matters, and online for the most part, there is a strong in-group/out-group identity that makes it very hard to have reasonable discussions that don't dissolve into flame wars. In person, I agree that it's good to be open minded and discuss things with people whose views you might usually not align with. Indirectly related is the Paradox of Tolerance: that tolerance without limit is eventually destroyed by the intolerant.