"The experience of being morally condemned despite having what one considers reasonable views can lead to resentment and a desire to push back more forcefully than one otherwise would." Someone unable to be morally condemned was dangerously weak to start with, look at the work on "who became Nazis," it'a a particularly self-pitying person. This is making descriptive something normative.
That's really good. I had no idea where you were going until we got some more details on Alfe. Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro describes Trump as a "giant pulsating middle finger".... and I think there's a lot of truth to that. At some point, terms like "racist", "fascist", etc., lose all meaning -- or at least lose the power to silence and shame. Glenn Loury, a podcaster I like was very insistent before the election -- he wasn't going to endorse either candidate. Now that Trump has been elected, Glenn has come out as a vocal supporter of Trump and claims that he couldn't risk the reputation savaging he would have faced coming out for Trump if Harris had won.
I had a phone call tonight from a really blue friend; she wanted to talk about events in general. We found a lot of common ground until she -- in all sincerity -- blamed the current divisiveness in the country on Trump. There was no sense of both sides contributing to the rift; in her mind it was all on Trump. I probably didn't handle it as well as I should; it did not get rancorous, but I'm sure I didn't express the things I should have.
I still don't know how to fix things, but I remain convinced that one of the core problems is the excessive power of the federal government. I think we're just too big and diverse. We can make nice talk all we want, but at some point the government will pass a law that will leave a big chunk of the country unhappy. If you didn't believe that 6 months ago, then you believe it today....
"The experience of being morally condemned despite having what one considers reasonable views can lead to resentment and a desire to push back more forcefully than one otherwise would." Someone unable to be morally condemned was dangerously weak to start with, look at the work on "who became Nazis," it'a a particularly self-pitying person. This is making descriptive something normative.
Great piece, Ilana!
Where does the rule of law come in. rape and fraud are felonies not moral stances.
That's really good. I had no idea where you were going until we got some more details on Alfe. Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro describes Trump as a "giant pulsating middle finger".... and I think there's a lot of truth to that. At some point, terms like "racist", "fascist", etc., lose all meaning -- or at least lose the power to silence and shame. Glenn Loury, a podcaster I like was very insistent before the election -- he wasn't going to endorse either candidate. Now that Trump has been elected, Glenn has come out as a vocal supporter of Trump and claims that he couldn't risk the reputation savaging he would have faced coming out for Trump if Harris had won.
I had a phone call tonight from a really blue friend; she wanted to talk about events in general. We found a lot of common ground until she -- in all sincerity -- blamed the current divisiveness in the country on Trump. There was no sense of both sides contributing to the rift; in her mind it was all on Trump. I probably didn't handle it as well as I should; it did not get rancorous, but I'm sure I didn't express the things I should have.
I still don't know how to fix things, but I remain convinced that one of the core problems is the excessive power of the federal government. I think we're just too big and diverse. We can make nice talk all we want, but at some point the government will pass a law that will leave a big chunk of the country unhappy. If you didn't believe that 6 months ago, then you believe it today....