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One thing I've noticed about the difference between conservatives and liberals, is that conservatives tend to have a tighter circle of "us".
There's a fence around "us" that keeps "them" out. The smaller the diameter of the fence, or the less permeative is is, the more conservative the person tends to me. I know people who will do anything for their families, or their chosen families - their tribes. But outside that group? Fuck 'em. The kind of person who will be eulogized for being selfless, but who never tipped the wait staff.
And there's another kind of person who cares about everyone to some extent. Sure, the closer the subject is, the more they are likely to care, but there's a whole continuum of caring. These people are the ones who can see shades of grey.
I saw this article today:
https://www.journaloftheplagueyear.ink/blog/trump-s-hidden-nation
It mostly compares and contrasts Trump and Hitler, but I thought this passage was apropos to the subject:
So Hitler was building fences, and making it clear which side "we" should be on. To be clear, he was defining who "we" should and shouldn't be.
.
There's a fence around "us" that keeps "them" out. The smaller the diameter of the fence, or the less permeative is is, the more conservative the person tends to me. I know people who will do anything for their families, or their chosen families - their tribes. But outside that group? Fuck 'em. The kind of person who will be eulogized for being selfless, but who never tipped the wait staff.
And there's another kind of person who cares about everyone to some extent. Sure, the closer the subject is, the more they are likely to care, but there's a whole continuum of caring. These people are the ones who can see shades of grey.
I saw this article today:
https://www.journaloftheplagueyear.ink/blog/trump-s-hidden-nation
It mostly compares and contrasts Trump and Hitler, but I thought this passage was apropos to the subject:
In the Third Reich the voice of human conscience did not say it is wrong to kill, it said it is wrong not to kill, as Hannah Arendt so precisely observes. This was made possible by a shift in the language, displayed in its purest form in Mein Kampf, which contains no “you,” only an “I,” and a “we,” which is what makes it possible to turn “they” into “it.” In “you” was decency. In “it” was evil. But it was “we” who carried it out.
So Hitler was building fences, and making it clear which side "we" should be on. To be clear, he was defining who "we" should and shouldn't be.
.
