How Much Do You Hate the Other Side?

Before I came to PF, I had virtually no knowledge of forum culture or the kinds of exchange common in these settings. What I've found has been both enlightening and horribly depressing.

Overtime, I've found myself hating other groups of people more than I ever did before, and I've noticed that this hate seems to affect most of the posters. In fact, it is so bad that I would bet that half of you would willingly murder another poster if all you had to do was press a button with no fear of punishment.

So, how much do you hate the other side? If you are a liberal, do you think the world would be better off without some of the racists on here, and if you are conservative, would you like to see some of the liberals on here just disappear?

I doubt any of you will admit it, but I genuinely believe that many of you would gladly kill each other if you had the opportunity to do it without fear of punishment or getting your hands dirty. If that is true, what does it say about humanity?

Thoughts?

 

I'll take a stab at it.

I have respect for people on the other side of the spectrum.

As long as they aren't just kneejerk Tourette's-like, "starting a thread ever time some ridiculous idiocy spews from the Breitbart fever swamp" types.

But, if they are fair-minded (and not just trolling and racking up posts beating the same dead horse), I have a lot of respect for the other side.

I can easily tell the difference between "fever swamp" types and fair-minded types.

 

Debate and I'll respect you.

The rest well... it's not hate it's pity and disappointment and a loss of faith in humanity that someone could be that ignorant and still draw breath.

 

It's not even close to as bad here as on Topix, the forum I frequented before this.

Topix doesn't moderate well, so there's loads of obnoxious insults there, and lots of Liberals there too.

I actually didn't like a single person on Topix.

But, I can't say that here, I like some people here, including yourself.

But, I've actually become a lot less hateful since I've come here from Topix.

 

People in real life often hide their politics.

On here their political views are wide open, that brings the good, the bad, and the ugly.

 

No. I don't think anyone here will push your hypothetical kill button. I do admit that I am comforted that this isn't a feature we can pre-select in our control panel. If I am wrong my thread view count and my like/agrees statistics would take a nosedive.

 

Yeah, it is rather.

There is too much hate here, certainly.

I don't hate them. For the worst-behaved of them, something must have gone wrong in their lives to make them behave that way.

I'd like to see the racists give up racism. I don't want to see them dead.

The nation has become increasingly polarized and partisan. Increasingly, Americans see people on the other side of the political divide as just plain evil. It seems to be a product of the fact that these days, it is easy to insulate yourself from contact with the other side's opinions and to get all your opinions about them from sources supporting your side.

We need to learn to listen to the other side directly to determine what they think, not base our opinions of what they think on reports from our own side.

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Yeah, it is rather.

There is too much hate here, certainly.

I don't hate them. For the worst-behaved of them, something must have gone wrong in their lives to make them behave that way.

I'd like to see the racists give up racism. I don't want to see them dead.

The nation has become increasingly polarized and partisan. Increasingly, Americans see people on the other side of the political divide as just plain evil. It seems to be a product of the fact that these days, it is easy to insulate yourself from contact with the other side's opinions and to get all your opinions about them from sources supporting your side.

We need to learn to listen to the other side directly to determine what they think, not base our opinions of what they think on reports from our own side.

 

I TRULY feel like Jesus on the cross. Father, forgive them, for they know NOT, what they do. MEn are now frightened children. And this transition of mankind, to a DIFFERENT way of being, one way, or another, make us heap ashes upon our heads, and LAMENT LOUDLY.

 

I'd like to see anti-racists give up their anti-racism.

Clearly we've gone too far in the opposite direction, with serious consequences.

 

It's true , I hate Democrats! I don't want to kill them though. I would like for them to live on some utopian island together. Their ridiculous policies would end up killing them all anyway.

 

Values that you, and I share are clearly rare in the West, It's true that we'd feel more comfortable in parts of Eastern Europe, or Asia where the values are much closer.

 

I hope you say that as often and publicly as you can, because stuff like that convinces people to vote Democrat.

 

I'm actually a registered Democrat.

I don't really agree with either side in America.

Why are so many White Americans so desperate to support the take over of White America, by third World brown peoples with higher murder rates, and lower IQ scores?

 

But for those "fever swamp" types, wouldn't you say that your sentiments run a little deeper than simple irritation?

Well, that is asking too much. There aren't many posters willing to engage in an actual debate that doesn't include deception, derailing, and generally dishonest debate tactics. I've tried very hard, even calling people out to challenge me, and I rarely get any takers.

Wow, Topix must be an absolute (*)(*)(*)(*)show.

Yes, I agree with many of your posts. We disagree on some things, but you seem to be a realist with solid self-knowledge, which I have a lot of respect for. It takes a tough-minded person to come to the beliefs that you and I share. People think we are motivated by hate, but what they don't realize is how much of that knowledge was acquired with emotional pain and great difficulty. To get where we are politically, it takes a lot of self-reflection that isn't very pretty.

Good post.

On here, sometimes I think I hate other posters, but I have people I call friends who are very liberal, and I certainly don't hate them (in real life).

There is something very dangerous about restricting our political dialogue to internet forums. Perhaps the rule about not discussing politics in daily life should be revised...I don't know.

 

I don't hate anyone, never have. I used to be a liberal so I just feel sorry for those that have not grown up yet and do not yet understand what the world is about in favor of some utopia that is unattainable.

 

I must say, I felt less pressure to silence myself when I was in China, of all places. Like I said before, our shared beliefs come from a very depressing worldview that was not something we chose to appease our emotions--it emerged from confronting extremely unpleasant views about the nature of the world. I think this is one of the great misunderstandings that people have about our positions. I don't like thinking of people as "meat machines" solely governed by the interaction between genes and the environment, but that is what the evidence suggests, if not outright asserts.

 

Topix is filled with loads of obnoxious mega simpletons.

Some samples below.

http://www.topix.com/forum/afam/T8EJHA7KGO372QI2E

http://www.topix.com/forum/world/poland/T78RCJQCQ1T9VUMT7

 

I think "cordially dislike" is a more descriptive term than hate for what I feel toward most conservatives here. I think there is a certain divorce between reality and this place because we are not confronting the actual person here. In reality I would avoid the political bar loudmouth like Ebola. Here I seek them out as they are the easiest to confound

As far as killing somebody I like to think I'd have real difficulty in doing so, like they do in the movies, but I have to also think I'm like most people who have done so and who walk away from the incident with relatively little in the way of nightmares, life changing thoughts etc. Man IS a wolf to man after all, it seems

It does still surprise me as to how bloody minded many people are. Many in here are quite willing, even eager, to start genocides that would make the Holocaust look like a child's story. I like to think I'm not that bad, but I wonder sometimes

And I REALLY like the Bear Jew scene. I hope it's just the movie, and I do note in my defense that I really felt for the one Nazi who they shot after he panicked and tried to run away

 

I don't hate the "other side". What I hate is that we are coerced and encouraged, by those who stand to profit, to take these sides against our fellow citizens. And that these flames of division are actively fanned, for profit, to keep them from healing.

 

I have some respect for consistent, honest liberals. I've had decent conversations with some of them. However, the overwhelming majority of the ones I come across seem to be of the paid hack variety, with money on the line, shilling for their party. I have no respect for them.

I hate the ones who are intentionally damaging this country with their policies. The ones who are naïve enough to think they are doing some good, I just feel sorry for them.

 

I tend to think more ideologically, and less personally. Ideologically, I do believe that progressive liberalism is the greatest political threat America faces, more so than radical Islam, because progressive liberalism is so invasive to the core of American values, whereas radical Islam is more of an external threat that affects very few within the country, although progressive liberalism increases it's potential.

For those who are progressive liberals, I just sort of view them in bewilderment, bewildered as to how they could think in such profoundly irrational and destructive ways. But beyond that, what makes them such a threat to society is the way in which they want to impose their singular views upon everyone else, in whatever way they can achieve it. That's what makes them so dangerous to our society, and why it is so important to defeat them at the ballot box if we are to preserve our country and our constitutional freedoms.

 

That definitely looks like a pretty unsatisfying level of discourse, to say the least.

In reality, I'm not even close to as big of a jerk as I am on here lol.

Yes, this is the depressing reality I'm talking about. Killing someone directly, by your own hand, is one thing, but pressing a button fro ma distance, or simply encouraging others to do so, seems far easier to people.

 

I don't hate anyone and certainly don't want to kill anyone but I do find it fascinating how people in the same social surroundings can be so divided. Example: I grew up on LI in NY and now live in SD. The people here always talk about "midwest values" as if they are some supreme ideal that they have but are really no different than NY values or US values. We make these artificial boundaries around ourselves and seem to want to fight about them constantly......and they are the same thing. Fascinating.
I do find myself fighting windmills (of course I think I'm right)sometimes that start as amusement but turn into conversations that will never be resolved. The competitor in me finds it hard to let go.....especially when I KNOW the opposition is wrong.

 

I've wondered about this as well. The media has clearly become more destructive than constructive to society, but what is the alternative? Do we ban profit-driven media?

How many liberals believe that what they do is bad? For that matter, how many conservatives believe that what they think is bad? The number of people who really believe that what they do hurts people, and still support it, is very small.

I also think they are potentially dangerous, and the bigger threat right now, but it wasn't long ago that conservatives were a pretty big threat. The modern republican party, full of cronies and corrupt business interests suggests that the right has not been innocent.

 

I think you are taking your own feelings and fantasies and projecting them on to other people.

I do not hate anyone on this board. I don't know anyone on this board. I do vociferously and sometimes harshly criticize people for what I find to be irrational and/or indefensible positions. Some may take that personally but it is never meant to be personal. I don't wish ill on anyone on this board or anyone on the "other side" of my arguments. What I do find is that the anonymity of the internet is double edged sword. It allows people to be more honest in their own beliefs without fear of repercussions from family, friends, neighbors or co-workers. At the same time the anonymity allows for unfettered rudeness, crudeness, misogyny, threats, lies, damn lies, impersonation etc. etc. It is usually pretty easy to spot when a person is being particularly crass.

That being said your post is prime example of why a like the idea of organized religion. I don't feel I need it myself and have become a Unitarian Deist. That being said there are apparently a large number of people in the world that need to know there is punishment for certain actions. I never wanted to hurt or murder anyone. Not because I thought I would go to jail or because I would go to hell for eternity but because I never felt the need nor want to hurt anyone else. I have found that there are those that do need the threat of punishment whether in this life or the next to not rape, pillage and destroy. Therefore I am grateful that there are institutions that offer said punishment.