Appreciate your honesty on this. I can't claim to have superior political acumen, but swimming ideologically upstream in many of the circles I move does give one a different perspective at least.
I found the #resistance hashtag both vainglorious and ridiculous. Even more ludicrous was #notmypresident from the same people who claim election deniers are villains.
Beyond just Brexit and Trump, the assumption in recent years that elections only go a particular way due to manipulation, fraud, other skulduggery, is really toxic. Because it removes any impetus to actually ask whether what your side is offering the voter is perhaps not working.
I think there's tremendous value in being able to have open conversations with people you respect who do not share your values (a seemingly increasingly rare thing these days: someone with different political values who one respects). There several organizations whose mission is to have just such conversations (https://braverangels.org/ for one).
I'm not sure how we can best help build these kinds of conversations; I suspect some of the difficulties are a result of much looser geographic communities (so many people don't know their neighbors very well and don't spend much time talking to them seriously); some is how easy it is today to shut yourself in your own media bubble.
Respecting (not just tolerating) contra perspectives and values has been a core bit of the Rarely Certain project. Being able to see the difference between respecting and sharing a position seems to be a rare skill. It's certainly the path less taken.
In a way, this project is intended to model that approach.
Braver Angels is well named. I think it's cowardly and lazy to hide in our own bubbles and it does take courage to become more independent of thought and deed.
It is only by listening to the diverse opinions of others that you realise how little you really know and understand. This makes you think and question your own understanding of the world, which will inevitably lead to personal growth... and when it all gets too much; go birdwatching.
Appreciate your honesty on this. I can't claim to have superior political acumen, but swimming ideologically upstream in many of the circles I move does give one a different perspective at least.
I found the #resistance hashtag both vainglorious and ridiculous. Even more ludicrous was #notmypresident from the same people who claim election deniers are villains.
Beyond just Brexit and Trump, the assumption in recent years that elections only go a particular way due to manipulation, fraud, other skulduggery, is really toxic. Because it removes any impetus to actually ask whether what your side is offering the voter is perhaps not working.
All of the above seems to be the real threat to 'democracy itself'.
I think there's tremendous value in being able to have open conversations with people you respect who do not share your values (a seemingly increasingly rare thing these days: someone with different political values who one respects). There several organizations whose mission is to have just such conversations (https://braverangels.org/ for one).
I'm not sure how we can best help build these kinds of conversations; I suspect some of the difficulties are a result of much looser geographic communities (so many people don't know their neighbors very well and don't spend much time talking to them seriously); some is how easy it is today to shut yourself in your own media bubble.
Respecting (not just tolerating) contra perspectives and values has been a core bit of the Rarely Certain project. Being able to see the difference between respecting and sharing a position seems to be a rare skill. It's certainly the path less taken.
In a way, this project is intended to model that approach.
Braver Angels is well named. I think it's cowardly and lazy to hide in our own bubbles and it does take courage to become more independent of thought and deed.
It is only by listening to the diverse opinions of others that you realise how little you really know and understand. This makes you think and question your own understanding of the world, which will inevitably lead to personal growth... and when it all gets too much; go birdwatching.
Solid advice. Also, hang out with dogs. And trees.