Most Americans, no matter their political affiliation, do not believe that violence is a solution to domestic political divisions, according to the latest PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll.
I’m of the opinion that where there is understanding, there can be no hatred. Or if you hate someone, it’s because you don’t actually understand them. And I don’t mean trying to understand in the smug, condescending way that CNN or Reddit uses, which is basically “Republicans dumb”, but I mean understanding the urge to be self reliant, to value family, country, or religion. But I don’t mean agree with either. That is not the same as understanding someone. I read an article concluding that people from broken families are more likely to be left wing, and it has to do with reliance on government to provide security, as opposed to one’s own self or their family. Does that make conservatives stupid, greedy, or full of hate? No, they just had a different life experience that formed their impression of what society should be like. Reality is it’s even more complex than that, and certainly not as simple as “Republicans stupid and full of hate”. People in power know this, but they also know that understanding and empathy with opposition only gets in the way of them winning. So politics inevitably becomes about winning by any means necessary, including vilifying the opposition.
I’m of the opinion that where there is understanding, there can be no hatred. Or if you hate someone, it’s because you don’t actually understand them. And I don’t mean trying to understand in the smug, condescending way that CNN or Reddit uses, which is basically “Republicans dumb”, but I mean understanding the urge to be self reliant, to value family, country, or religion. But I don’t mean agree with either. That is not the same as understanding someone. I read an article concluding that people from broken families are more likely to be left wing, and it has to do with reliance on government to provide security, as opposed to one’s own self or their family. Does that make conservatives stupid, greedy, or full of hate? No, they just had a different life experience that formed their impression of what society should be like. Reality is it’s even more complex than that, and certainly not as simple as “Republicans stupid and full of hate”. People in power know this, but they also know that understanding and empathy with opposition only gets in the way of them winning. So politics inevitably becomes about winning by any means necessary, including vilifying the opposition.