Great post. It is entirely possible - even confirmed, that on the Bell Curve of culture, the small extremes on both ends are dangerous because of their proclivity to violence against innocents. We’ve seen it with Antifa-related violence on the left (presidential inauguration, 2017, WTO Seattle riots in 2000, etc.) and in Charlottesville, Virginia, with the tiki-torch bearing racists, also in 2017). Such people should not be censored but marginalized and prosecuted fiercely when crimes are committed, not bailed out of jail as a political stunt (Minneapolis, 2020). I remain convinced that once out from behind our keyboards, the vast majority of Americans get along well, help and support each other, and share common values regardless of political leanings. Such behavior needs to be showcased and rewarded. The only journalist that I see doing that is Salena Zito. My own neighbors are a wonderful example. There is too much focus on what divides us, and the politicization of everything.
Personally I think such high-violence scenarios are very unlikely. But I wanted to include that section as a way to extrapolate it to worst case scenarios and say “even then, these ideas have value.” As a way to make a last ditch appeal to skeptics who will use new sources of outrage as a reason to write off the depolarization-related ideas.
Great post. It is entirely possible - even confirmed, that on the Bell Curve of culture, the small extremes on both ends are dangerous because of their proclivity to violence against innocents. We’ve seen it with Antifa-related violence on the left (presidential inauguration, 2017, WTO Seattle riots in 2000, etc.) and in Charlottesville, Virginia, with the tiki-torch bearing racists, also in 2017). Such people should not be censored but marginalized and prosecuted fiercely when crimes are committed, not bailed out of jail as a political stunt (Minneapolis, 2020). I remain convinced that once out from behind our keyboards, the vast majority of Americans get along well, help and support each other, and share common values regardless of political leanings. Such behavior needs to be showcased and rewarded. The only journalist that I see doing that is Salena Zito. My own neighbors are a wonderful example. There is too much focus on what divides us, and the politicization of everything.
Personally I think such high-violence scenarios are very unlikely. But I wanted to include that section as a way to extrapolate it to worst case scenarios and say “even then, these ideas have value.” As a way to make a last ditch appeal to skeptics who will use new sources of outrage as a reason to write off the depolarization-related ideas.