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Title is taken from Sun Tzu in "The Art of War"

Judith Warner of the New York Times finally comes to terms with reality. In her storyline, she cites the following conclusion by Jonathan Haidt, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. Republicans and Democrats think differently. While that is one of the most obvious statements I have ever written, it bears a certain merit to dwell on the how and the why.

[In] “What Makes People Vote Republican?”, [Haidt reasons] that it’s liberals, in fact, who are dangerously blind. Haidt has conducted research in which liberals and conservatives were asked to project themselves into the minds of their opponents and answer questions about their moral reasoning. Conservatives, he said, prove quite adept at thinking like liberals, but liberals are consistently incapable of understanding the conservative point of view. “Liberals feel contempt for the conservative moral view, and that is very, very angering. Republicans are good at exploiting that anger,”

We see this every day here on the blogs. Whether it is someone posting the same stuff from Daily Kos or the Obama campaign, it is done with intent to project contempt.

I recall when it was revealed that Sarah Palin's17 year-old daughter was pregnant, the first action on the blogs were references to how conservatives would react. When we reacted with our staid and heartfelt empathy, certain people on the left decided to project upon us what they assumed to be our hypocrisy.

It completely missed the point. We know people make mistakes in life (and sometimes those mistakes turn fatal - resulting in the deceased perpetrator being nominated for Darwin awards). It is a natural process. No one person is completely suited to bringing up a child in this age of instantaneous gratification and selfishness.

Where conservatives typically look to societal aberrations (Hollywood is a favorite target) and say "See, I told you so!" - a line which is certain to confound and enrage those who believe such societal aberrations are merely cultural differences which should be promoted - the idea that family values is a political issue should cause anyone to think upon the why of it and the subsequent consequences in society. In Professor Haidt's dissertation above, it certainly seems one liberal has found the answer, and perhaps with that we can stop talking over each other on issues that concern us all.

On the other hand, as Charles Krauthammer noted years ago, the key to understanding US politics as related to the Democrat vs. Republican dialogue (such as it is) is to remember that Republicans think Democrats are stupid, while Democrats think Republicans are evil.

On reflection, no wonder Democrats get their clocks cleaned by Republicans during presidential elections. They cannot truly know their enemy...

Marks Blog

Know the Enemy, and Yourself

Marks

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