Why the fuck do we have Democrats trying to get us to sympathize with deplorables?

[JHan]

123. Fear based messaging can be effective but I've never been impressed with those studies ..

of "liberal" and "conservative"* brains thinking differently how they describe it - This is a good overview,with links, which all raise questions about the methodology of the study and conclusions therein.

And on the face of it the idea of it may seem to make sense but doesn't really stand up to scrutiny. "Left" and "Right" change with time, they are not static. Nixon, for all his flaws - and he had many , implemented the EPA and believed in a UBI for all - by today's standards Nixon would not be your typical conservative. And there are other numerous examples of how Left/Right positions shape shift over time.

And though I label myself a liberal, my political positions exist in a continuum i.e. I may have several views on ONE issue alone.

The biggest challenge we face today is that people simply dislike to be wrong because of the shame attached to being wrong. The advent of social media means your "wrongness" is thrown in your face constantly. Ego is tied to not only political views, but any view whether it's on the economy, climate change, or any contentious issue constantly in the headlines. This is *Emotional* and psychological and the phenomenon would exist regardless of one's political affiliations.

This affects policy as well when congressmen and women have hissy fits because they don't get exactly what they want and refuse to compromise - look no further than the Obama years and republican obstructionism . There is little opportunity for folks to be exposed to ideas different to what they believe to be true because the center is fast disappearing, the arena left to ideologues on each side of the political spectrum. There have also been changes in media and the pace of media consumption, ignorance about government and ignorance about the influence of policy making at the local level.