Remarkably, another rare Twitter gem surfaced this week from a woman named Michelle Tandler who rightly chastises her doctrinaire friends for being religious zealots who don’t want to hear anything that contradicts their views. Her appraisal of the intellectual constipation of her narrow-minded progressive friends has gone viral. It reminds me of Professor Jonathan Haidt’s concern that viewpoint diversity is vitally important to our society. It’s so refreshingly honest that I thought it merited its own article for posterity.
Recently I have realized that all my progressive friends are unable to articulate the tradeoffs associated with their viewpoints. They are reading the same things, spending time with other liberals, and generally uninterested in questioning their beliefs. This is problematic.
When I share learnings around tradeoffs they tend to become morally indignant and emotionally worked up. They say things like “that is preposterous! how can you think that…?” I find myself at a loss… It’s hard to argue with someone in a religious fervor.
They will spout talking point after talking point… “the system is broken” “capitalism doesn’t work” “systemic racism” “industrial complex” They sound almost bot-like.
It is not easy to have a productive conversation. I have been studying so many differing viewpoints. I’m not interested in demonizing one side or the other. I’m interested in the truth. I want to know the tradeoffs, the unintended consequence, the downstream ramifications.
What I have come to realize is that most people aren’t actually interested in politics. They are interested in feeling good about themselves. It’s a hell of a lot easier to say “billionaires shouldn’t exist” than to take a look at the % of time and money they spend on charity.
The moral grandstanding I see among my friends on the far left has become increasingly frustrating to me. Few are grounded in data or facts. Everything is about “values” — not logic. I would say 90% of my progressive friends don’t have a single conservative friend.
I would also say that 90% of my progressive friends don’t read anything that challenges their viewpoints — books, magazines, youtube, anything. There is *so* much out there — how can you only read from one side? In that dynamic, how can you have confidence in your views…?
Some topics where I’m seeing my friends utterly falter on the ability to speak in a balanced way: welfare/UBI, taxes, income inequality, race, criminal justice, housing, minimum wage, education. They all have such strong opinions, but when I ask about tradeoffs… Crickets.
Last night a friend told me that I invented the term “purple pilled”. I find that hard to believe, but I’ll take it. I love the color purple – the perfect balance of blue and red. It’s a great color.
Recently I’ve started thinking that we have two enormous looming existential threats — a recession (inevitable) and climate catastrophe. I think we are heading into a world where smoke and drought (among other things) wreak serious havoc and disrupt society at large.
We need to work together on these issues or we are going to be in big trouble. I am concerned that all our infighting – between red & blue, black & white… it’s a distraction from the train in the distance. Why aren’t we working together to prepare for the future?
I keep trying to quit Twitter because frankly, it stresses me out. There is so much yelling and finger pointing and name calling here. I get trolled & it can be quite painful. However — I can’t let up. I think that this is the place to spread a message of coming together.
We need to start a moderate movement. We need moderates to speak up and challenge radicals. We need to shine a light on extremism, and not let it take over our nation. We need to ask people to consider the tradeoffs.
She is right. So very much spot on. Unfortunately… she isn’t the first to say this and I fear just like them, the voice of reason won’t be heard by many, and those who do… won’t be able to change a thing.
We live in a mob rule. Internet outrage destroying people, cancel culture, ever more going into the realm of physical violence and outright riots.
Follow the science has become my favorite phrase to show what’s wrong. Science isn’t about the one truth. Yes, it is about facts. Facts that must either be challenged or accepted, a foundation that will be the basis of future actions.
The dogmatic part is already denying challenging “facts”, and even if a fact isn’t challenged, what action to take must be discussed.
Tandler is right there, people are not about politics, it’s about moral grandstanding. From high above they judge their fellows harshly and mete out harsh punishment, cancel culture is turning people quickly into outcasts, into wolfsheads, often decided by radical people on a hair trigger. All one must do for that is to dare to voice criticism or have another opinion. I guess that’s how your site got its name.
Most people are cowed and silenced by such odds. Leaving the field to radical loudmouths and self-aggrandizers. There is little to win by discussing on the internet, as the discussion doesn’t happen, particularly on Twitter. Reddit is not better, though one would think so given its more debate friendly structure.
The internet was a not too friendly place early on. Debate was still possible, even between people flinging insults at each other. What changed? More people got online and started using the web, messengers. The result is what we see nowadays. Either you post non-offensive cat pics and positive thoughts nonstop, additionally you might also start virtue signalling with a megaphone, or you shut up. If you don’t, the mob will come for you.
Mob rule. In our century. Not better than in ages past. Politics nowadays put a premium on talking smoothly, one doesn’t have to follow up. Just harness the mob and do what you want. To the point of criticizing something but doing the same and doubling down on it. This works nicely if the press and the mob can be kept in check and the rage used to further one’s own agenda. Welcome to the era of fake democracy. Backdoor deals and just appearing nice, don’t hurt anyone’s feelings. The era of pretenders.
A lack of moral and faith, a lack of brains. Sometimes both. The internet makes it easy to forget about manners and basic respect. Something that is eroding in society as well.
Even religious institutions are going downhill. People are looking for alternatives, even if they are not quite conscious about it. Science is often used as replacement for religion these days. Uh, fine with me. But people aren’t embracing the science. They are creating their own dogmas out of a perverted understanding of science. They are easy to condemn other people, asking for bans of this and that.
I hate to be the doomsayer, but this crazy society isn’t prepared for anything, not even to face the things it sees as problems. It is a problem by itself and creating lots of misery.
Excellent post!
The Internet was always a cesspool because of anonymity which allowed people to post things with no consequences. (If you are not anonymous now, you are crazy as you can easily get cancelled and your life ruined by these Marxist lunatic extortionists.)
What changed?
Corporate American embraced “values” marketing. In about 2015 as millennials started joining companies, companies openly promoting their values became a way you could distinguish your company’s products and services to make more profits. Values is just a euphemism for morality. Sadly, Steve Jobs bears a lot of the responsibility for this high minded and misguided marketing philosophy with Apple Inc.
Jobs didn’t make the world a better place. Instead he made the world worse by creating a world where people are more anti-social than ever and people are addicted to their smartphones.
I don’t know how we can get out of this mess. There’s going to be a great reckoning or some kind of natural disaster or spiritual awakening coming. We can’t continue on this path.
Cancel culture is real and it’s a blight upon our society. It’s mob rule. It’s tyranny. The ability to destroy a person is essentially the ability to murder them online by killing their reputation, their careers, their families and it is what gets these people off. This kind of power must be intoxicating for immoral godless people.
Trump and the useless Republicans did NOTHING about this. I don’t know how much longer our society can keep destroying itself with this sickness.
All we can really do is make our own lives better and those of the people around us. Forget the Marxist fantasy of saving the world. Save yourself, your family, your street, your town first.