• Tinidril
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    1 month ago

    My intention is not that we segregate, but that we not coddle bigotry and reactionary politics in our associations. Politics and interpersonal human connections are not two separate realms. Your politics and morality feed off each-other. Blurring differences beneath a veneer of politeness is just social isolation in geometric proximity. This has been the dominant social mode for decades, and it didn’t stop society from getting where it is now.

    It’s really easy to blame the internet, but I’m old enough to remember the before times, and the differences are mostly cosmetic. (Although I agree with your comment on social media algorithms.) Rush Limbaugh dominated talk radio a decade before most people even heard of the Internet. Even back then we all had all the same toxic people who’s company was tolerated, not appreciated. The civil war obviously predated even radio, and the build up was not all that dissimilar to what we have today.

    Conservatives need us more than we need them. When it comes right down to it, rich culture is a feature of liberal or leftist thinking. There is a reason why Republicans keep using music at their rallies that gets them sued. We have the best artists, the best scientists, the best comedians, the best lovers, and the most generous people. We have creative business leaders and they have scam artists. We build technology and they abuse it. We stand up for women, and they are incels or human traffickers.