The Language of The Dividers
The tactics of the dividers are often very subtle. So much so that it is easy to fall for them. Being led one illogical step at a time away from your neighbors, until your mind becomes so completely irrational, intolerant, and genuinely hateful towards those persons who deserve your trust, tolerance, and compassion.
Following are some of the more common tactics used by the dividers to separate us from one another.
No Tolerance For The Intolerant
One such tactic is to use a claim of “tolerance” in order to excuse intolerance and hatred. Persons playing this card will tell you that they cannot condone intolerance. As such, they stand against the other side, because the other side is intolerant. Thus, these persons justify their own intolerance by claiming that the other side was intolerant first.
The Other Side Is Ill-Informed
Another common tactic is to claim that the other side is ill-informed, and that they vote for things that go against their own best interest. It is therefor justified that we, who are the more enlightened, actively work against the other side, to save them from themselves.
The Other Side Is Ungodly Or Unscientific
The dividers tell us that those on the other side do not have faith in god, or they do not understand science. Their conclusions are based in myth, bias, and foolishness. Our side knows better, so we must act to save all of society.
The Leaders On The Other Side Are Dangerous
Those who divide tell us how dangerous the leaders are, who have been voted in by the other side. These leaders are radicals, who want to destroy our lives. In order to protect our families, we must turn towards our leaders, who are the only thing holding the line between us and the evils of the other side.
Anyone Who Votes For The Leaders of The Other Side Is Guilty
The dividers tell us that members of the other political ideology are just as guilty as their leaders, because they voted for them. These leaders are just an outcropping of the problem that the other side represents. We can’t just defeat the leaders, because they will be replaced. We must completely defeat the other side.
You Cannot Associate With Those On The Other Side
We are told that those who belong to the other ideological side are horrible people. We are encouraged to shun any interactions or intermingling with them. This includes unfriending them online, isolating them at work, and spending less time with them in our families. The idea being to keep us from appreciating or understanding their insights. If we understand their viewpoint, then we must be just as bad as they are!
Read more about the importance of understanding
The Other Side Is Guilty of Every Sin Committed By Any of Their Members
One way to convince us that the other side is evil is to pick extreme examples of poor behavior from persons belonging to the other side and then convincing us that everyone on the other side behaves like that individual. This often happens after an individual on the other side (especially one of their leaders) commits a crime. We are then told by our leaders that this is the kind of behavior that we expect from that side, and that this is exactly why we need to be vigilant in protecting ourselves from people who behave that way. The reality is that very few people on either side behave poorly, but by picking an extreme example, and extrapolating it out to everyone else, our leaders convince us that the other side are terrible people. This process is commonly referred to as nutpicking.
Doubting The Intellectual Honesty of The Other Side
This tactic is incredibly subtle, and all too frequently common. It occurs in both a positive and a negative manner. For example suppose that someone from the “other party” comes out publicly and recognizes a good or positive accomplishment that our party has accomplished. We often feel tempted to mistrust and dismiss their sincerity, claiming that the only reason that they recognized the obvious good in our party, is so that we will feel obligated to recognize the good (even though we assume there isn’t any) in their party. Conversely, When individuals in the other party publicly come out in opposition to something that is occurring within their own party, such as condemning the actions of extreme members of their party, we often feel tempted to dismiss them as only doing so in order to provide themselves with an excuse for attacking our side later. We say to ourselves that if they were really sincere they would leave their party and switch to ours. That it isn’t enough to simply recognize bad in their side and good in our side. They must join our side and wholesale condemn their side! Otherwise, we say to ourselves, they are not honest.
The Other Side Is (Enter Pejorative Term Here)
We tend to lump all members of the other side into boxes and accuse them of being guilty of characteristics that usually do not actually apply to them. The most common of these used against the right are “Racist,” “Sexist,” “Homophobic,” and “Bigoted.” The most common of these used against the left are “Anti-Religious,” “Anti-Semitic,” “Anti-Freedom,” and “Anti-Personal Responsibility.” The reality is that the vast majority of individuals on either side are none of these things. Moreover, there is just as much racism, sexism, homophobic and bigoted behavior on the left as there is on the right. Likewise, there is as much anti-religion, anti-semitism, anti-freedom, and anti-personal responsibility on the right as there is on the left. Accusing the other side of these traits is just a convenient way to excuse our own intolerance towards them.
The Other Side Is Hypocritical
Considering that we are all human hypocrisy is something that we have all been guilty of at one time or another. Hypocrisy is a natural result of our recognizing who we should be, and the reality of who we currently are. As we strive to become better, we talk about ideals. Ideals that we don’t always manage to live up to. This doesn’t make us bad people, it makes us people who are still growing. It is very easy to find hypocrisy in everyone. When we use it to justify our own intolerance of the other side, we are standing on very mushy ground, considering that we too are frequently guilty of not living up to our own ideals.
The Other Side Has Offended Me
This excuse to hate the other side is as flimsy as the last. In a world of imperfect people, it is very easy to find pretenses to become offended. You don’t have to wait very long for someone to say something a little bit off color, or less than tactful. If your goal is to be offended by the other side, it will only take you a few hours to find something to latch onto in order to justify your offense. It doesn’t matter who the person is, or how good or kind they are. If you watch them closely enough, you will find a reason to be offended by something they say or do.
Ascribing Beliefs… Demanding Explanations
Another common practice is for us to assign a belief to the other side. It is very often one that they don’t actually ascribe to themselves. We might for example declare that they believe in harming children, or in harming seniors. After we ascribe this belief to them, we then hold them accountable for it, and demand that they justify holding such an indefensible position. ie, we first insist that they believe something that they actually don’t believe, and then demand that they apologize for or defend this position.
Weaponizing The Common Ground
Both sides of the political divide share far more in common than they have that is different. Rather than recognizing this common ground, we often use it against one another. Making claims similar to the following: “The post office, schools, fire departments, police, etc are all examples of socialism…” or conversely “The post office, schools, fire departments, police, etc are all examples of conservative principles in action…” We then go on to accuse the other side of being too foolish to realize that they already support our agenda.
Belittling, Taunting, Dehumanizing The Other Side
When isolated within the comfy confines of our own closed groups we often commiserate on the stupidity of the other side. While alone with those of like persuasion, we feel very little need to defend or stand up for the goodness of the people we are making jokes about. This kind of mutual intolerance builds our bond with those on our side, but it does tremendous damage to our relationships with those on the other side. It also contributes to the the negative feelings that others have towards the other side. We need to stand up for the other side when we are discussing them. Not contribute to dehumanizing them.
Our modern world has become sharply divided along ideological lines. Despite the fact that most of us share the same values. Several studies show that there is little difference between the vast majority of people on either side of the ideological divide. With individuals on both sides valuing freedom, independence, respectful engagement, faith, science, compassion, and so forth. When sat down together, these individuals realize that they have so much more in common, yet far more often than sitting together, they instead tend to isolate themselves with other likeminded persons, and look towards the “other side” with distrust.
Why Are We So Divided?
When we have so much in common, so much more in common than there is that separates us, it is worth asking the question; Why are we so divided? The answers to this question are not very complicated to understand. They have to do with our basic human instinct towards tribalism, and which is magnified by individuals seeking financial gain and power.
Firstly, consider tribalism. For generations, human beings lived in much smaller communities. They knew the people in their little community but were weary of those who may enter as strangers. It was necessary for the security of everyone that those persons who were not part of the group be looked upon with distrust. Thus this instinct for tribalism served an important purpose. While the need for tribalism is largely gone, the instinct remains within us, just waiting to be tapped into by savvy marketers and power hungry politicians.
Why do you drink Coca Cola instead of Pepsi? Why do you buy Android phones instead of Apple? Why do you root for one professional sports team over another? The answer, very often is tribalism. A rivalry sells products. Marketers know that if they can turn you into a rabid fan of their products, that you will be loyal to them. Even if they sometimes make inferior products, or in the case of sports franchises, have poor outcomes on the field.
Tribalism gets you emotionally attached to your tribe. So that you take every insult against your tribe as a personal attack against yourself. This mistrust of the other tribe can expand and expand until it becomes very irrational.
Politicians who are seeking power have learned to use these tribal instincts to advance their political careers. They irrationally tell you that everyone on the other side is a bad person. That they put your family at risk. That in order to keep safe, you must vote for them, so that they can represent you in fighting back against the other side.
These Dividers Destroy So That They Can Advance
As long as you fear the other side, you will continue to vote for them. It doesn’t matter how effective they are as leaders. Just as you continue to buy Android or Apple phones regardless of how good they may be. Politicians know that if they can get you to think irrationally about the people on the other side, that your tribal loyalty will increase, and your vote will be secure.
It Isn’t The Right Vs The Left, It Is Those Who Divide Vs The Rest of Us
The other political ideology is not our enemy. They share most of our values, and by in large are almost entirely good people. The enemy are those individuals who seek to divide us, in order to gain power. Consider the damage that these people do to our communities! By stirring up hatred between different tribes, they create unnecessary animosity, broken families, lost friendships, and in extreme cases riots, or worse.
It is important that we recognize the tactics of the dividers so that we do not fall prey to them, and that we guard ourselves against those who seek to create division. The way to do that is to strive to understand each other, and to strive to think rationally and intellectually honestly about the world.
Read More About Intellectual Honesty
