Donald Trump just convinced me to vote for Hillary if the nominee

[RiverNoord]

77. Making assumptions about people like 'self righteousness'

might make you feel better. But you're wrong, at least about me. And, very likely, about a great many others.

I'm not getting anything out of this. I get to keep a bit of self-respect that I most likely would have lost if I took the easy way, but that's not the same thing as experiencing some kind of 'self righteousness' buzz. Do you think a person who makes a difficult stand is always acting out of self-righteousness? I'd much rather not have to make a lot of difficult stands in my life, if there are better alternatives. But sometimes circumstances force you to discover whether you really do believe in a thing, or only pretend to yourself that you do, so long as it doesn't cost you anything.

I didn't vote for Nader, and I won't write in Sanders if he doesn't win the nomination. But Al Gore lost the 2000 presidential election because he campaigned poorly, not because a handful of people voted for Ralph Nader instead of him.

Accusing people of having trivial motives, without knowing anything about them, is the very definition of self-righteousness. You're so right that anyone who doesn't agree should be derided and demeaned. Normally that's not a good thing, but when you're so right and they are so wrong, what else can you do?

Think about it. Or don't. You'll either learn about people or you won't.