To what end? Do you believe you’re doing something good or bad? The result is the same however, we become more divided. Parent didn’t teach me anything, just that they’re politically intolerant. What good does this do for the country or does it only serve to divide us more?
Continuing to justify “judging” others only results in the destruction of the country. Political parties are the problem. You’ll change nothing though, that’s for sure.
To people upvoting the parent, do you really believe that the half of the population who don't have the same politicals views as you could only possibly be motivated by hatred? It's not possible for you to imagine anyone disagreeing with you might have a legitimate philosophical difference?
I do accept that, I may have conveyed the wrong message there. I also did want not judge on what's good or bad.
What I do judge however is that politicians are abusing the divide and the mass media directly influencing it. Non-egalitarian politicians are advertising themselves as the saviour of the poor. It's ironic. The media is publishing data on how education influences the votes and thus implicitly show that there are "the stupid" against "the smart".
Politics is completely torn away from content to emotional rage. When people vote for the far-right they do not show that the far-right have a well thought strategy to make their lives better, but they show that they are not satisfied with their current situation. That's worrisome to me.
A consequence of this is that you may find yourself changing your views-- or at least being more open minded about things your friends don't approve of.
If it's just politics with no direct relevance to your life-- are you really better off that way? Is being more right or just more open minded about something that you have no influence do you any good if it alienates you from friends or family at all?
You can shut your eyes and pretend that they're separate, but that doesn't make it true. One's political and ethical views deeply influence how they act, particular towards others.
EDIT: This is a general point, not an opinion on the current issue.
I'm a weirdo: I like understanding people I disagree with. Probably because of my upbringing - political and ideological agreement was never necessary for care how I was raised. (I remember pretty vividly when we had a mock presidential election in 3rd grade and my parents each pitched different candidates to me lol).
I find that usually there's a first principle or a blatantly subjective and unresolvable disagreement that's behind most political disagreements. For example, my father is way more pessimistic about human nature than I am and that shows up in a lot of his political views that I disagree with because he's starting from different first principles than I am. There's not an objective answer to 'are humans innately good or bad?' that I can point to in order to sway him. Where I've been successful in swaying others, it's been through understanding how their principles and values/value rankings differ from mine and pitching my solutions/beliefs in a way that works with others' principles rather than insults them.
Besides that, it also helps make my own belief system more robust. If you know something that indicates that what I believe is false, I want to know. I want to grow as a person and refine my understanding of the world until my last breath, not stop at 18 because 'we've figured it out!' Which is more and more driving me out of spaces I used to enjoy: There's a pervasive pressure to continue acting and speaking in an adolescent fashion. A culture that tries to keep me from growing is not healthy, no matter what its ideologies are.
I just like learning things and genuinely like talking to a bunch of different people. The more different from me, the better. I would love to talk to a member of the Taliban, for example. I'm not going to agree with anything, but damn that would be a fascinating conversation to have.
This is one of the things i hate most about our political system, is how it coerces people to pigeonhole themselves into an entire set of beliefs because it is made to seem that you have to embrace those beliefs once you accept the identity of “conservative” or “liberal.” We should be expanding our experiences wherever possible (in beneficial ways) to expand our consciousness and to learn to see life through the perspective of others. I’m glad you were able to do that here.
I highly recommend anyone in a similar situation read Jonathan Haidt's book "The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion."
Haidt is a psychologist who studies moral development, and while I don't believe everything he puts forth in the book to be gospel, he makes many good points about how people come to moral conclusions (which may not be logical conclusions, but nonetheless are based on what the person uses their senses to believe is true).
You're assuming that the values of the culture you're living in are necessarily better or more ethical than those held by an individual. But even assuming that is true, the inability to voice ones opinions without ostracism doesn't solve disagreement, it just hides it. Whilst there may be a tremendously pleasing and unproductive perceived homogeneity of opinion around you, that facade is pulled with the curtain of the voting booth.
At first I was agreeing with you - it's hard to find consensus when asking "what is good?" It's a problem as old as politics. You hit the nail on the head!
Then you started on a partisan diatribe about how the other side of politics is wrong (and stupid).
What I think you've failed to realize, is that the other view is necessary. A single party state is totalitarian by definition if not by fact. There must be other views, and there must be a struggle for dominance among ideas. The struggle for dominance is natural, and healthy, and we should embrace it, even though it might sometimes be painful, it's the only way to grow personally and as a society.
And this is kind of the problem with politics. Something I've never understood with people is why they have a desire to punish others who disagree or don't share their political beliefs.
Sadly, it is this opposing views between people that causes wars and yet on a local/individual level, it results in things like not promoting someone who doesn't share your views or limiting a salary increase or bonus.
It's really disappointing about ourselves, I guess.
A problem I have with today's politics/politicians is that once you are part of a group (Republican or Democrat), you tend to vote the same as the group. People talk about the free exchange of ideas, but it is in the context of them changing your mind and not the other way around.
There's no compromise on either side, why talk about different points of view, if you are not going to change your mind.
I wish this was more common here in the States, but it just isn't there. It's becoming more and more difficult for adults to disagree without slinging insults at and hating the opponent. We're an incredibly politically divided country right now and political beliefs are held as immutable core parts of our identities instead of strongly held beliefs subject to change, so people who disagree with you are considered to be attacking your identity.
Continuing to justify “judging” others only results in the destruction of the country. Political parties are the problem. You’ll change nothing though, that’s for sure.
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