As You Know ...
“As you know, it is extremely difficult to ‘work with’ a party that has installed Donald Trump as president."
No, I do not “know.” I do my best not to make sweeping generalizations about people. It is because of the widespread use of assumption on both sides of the political divide, that problems go on and on without being solved.
Until this fundamental truth is intellectually and emotionally understood, there will be no progress of any signifacance.
Have you personally worked with anyone in the Trump administration? If not, then how do you know they are difficult?
Defeatist outlooks like this are sure guarantees of failure. How does one expect to negotiate with people if they’re already condemned and judged to be “extremely difficult", before anything is even said?
An underlying assumption here is that all Republicans think alike. That’s roughly 160,000,000 people. To believe that they are all the same is unrealistic. I’ve been living in the conservative area of Middle River for six years. Yes, we have our jerks, but they are the exception and not the rule. While not perfect, the majority here are normal human beings, and are to be respected as such.
One of the issues Orwell wrote about, is this business of choosing up sides and fighting each other, rather then working together to solve common problems.
“He has, as you also know,” You seem to expect everyone to think as you. Orwell wrote that political philosophies which expect everyone to think and behave the same way are totalitarian rather then democratic in nature. In recent parlance, the word is “Fascist.”
“ … and are quite purposefully moving in a "nationalistic" direction, to put it too kindly.”
Here’s what Orwell wrote about Nationalism -
"By ‘nationalism’ I mean first of all the habit of assuming that human beings can be classified like insects and that whole blocks of millions or tens of millions of people can be confidently labelled ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ But secondly — and this is much more important — I mean the habit of identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognising no other duty than that of advancing its interests. Nationalism is not to be confused with patriotism." - George Orwell (Notes on Nationalism, 1945)
Isn’t this exactly what you are doing, assuming that tens of millions of Americans are bad just because their views are different then yours? Have you ever questioned these beliefs or are you totally confident that these denunciations are beyond question and cant be judged? Isn’t your identity that of a “progressive” liberal? Do you not disavow dissident opinions?
Further on, Orwell wrote that the best way to get out of this habit of assuming, is to confront one’s own bias and work at mitigating it.
He adds that it takes a moral commitment to achieve this. One can’t assume that because they wave a banner of “Tolerance,” that they truly are tolerant. It takes work. You have to look at your behavior honestly.
The way to get results is to examine what one has say about others. As is said about defense mechanisms, especially projection, often the accusations lie within ones self.
No, I do not “know.” I do my best not to make sweeping generalizations about people. It is because of the widespread use of assumption on both sides of the political divide, that problems go on and on without being solved.
Until this fundamental truth is intellectually and emotionally understood, there will be no progress of any signifacance.
Have you personally worked with anyone in the Trump administration? If not, then how do you know they are difficult?
Defeatist outlooks like this are sure guarantees of failure. How does one expect to negotiate with people if they’re already condemned and judged to be “extremely difficult", before anything is even said?
An underlying assumption here is that all Republicans think alike. That’s roughly 160,000,000 people. To believe that they are all the same is unrealistic. I’ve been living in the conservative area of Middle River for six years. Yes, we have our jerks, but they are the exception and not the rule. While not perfect, the majority here are normal human beings, and are to be respected as such.
One of the issues Orwell wrote about, is this business of choosing up sides and fighting each other, rather then working together to solve common problems.
“He has, as you also know,” You seem to expect everyone to think as you. Orwell wrote that political philosophies which expect everyone to think and behave the same way are totalitarian rather then democratic in nature. In recent parlance, the word is “Fascist.”
“ … and are quite purposefully moving in a "nationalistic" direction, to put it too kindly.”
Here’s what Orwell wrote about Nationalism -
"By ‘nationalism’ I mean first of all the habit of assuming that human beings can be classified like insects and that whole blocks of millions or tens of millions of people can be confidently labelled ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ But secondly — and this is much more important — I mean the habit of identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognising no other duty than that of advancing its interests. Nationalism is not to be confused with patriotism." - George Orwell (Notes on Nationalism, 1945)
Isn’t this exactly what you are doing, assuming that tens of millions of Americans are bad just because their views are different then yours? Have you ever questioned these beliefs or are you totally confident that these denunciations are beyond question and cant be judged? Isn’t your identity that of a “progressive” liberal? Do you not disavow dissident opinions?
Further on, Orwell wrote that the best way to get out of this habit of assuming, is to confront one’s own bias and work at mitigating it.
He adds that it takes a moral commitment to achieve this. One can’t assume that because they wave a banner of “Tolerance,” that they truly are tolerant. It takes work. You have to look at your behavior honestly.
The way to get results is to examine what one has say about others. As is said about defense mechanisms, especially projection, often the accusations lie within ones self.