The Intertoobs Is Just An Outrage Generator

Study after study shows us that Americans are just consistently wrong about their political opponents, and consuming political media makes it worse. https://t.co/GuDhr0dWQP

— David French (@DavidAFrench) July 11, 2022

A) This doesn’t surprise me. Maybe in the early 19th century, before we had cities big enough to create the city v. country divide, and only white male property owners could vote, and slavery established the racial boundaries (oh, and “white” didn’t include Jewish or Irish or Polish or Italian, yet), we all held hands and sang Kum-bah-yah. But it didn’t last long, if it ever existed (spoiler: it didn’t).

B) This only applies to people who have political opponents; or think they do. So, extreme partisans who spend their time (mostly) on Twitter. I don’t think much of most GOP politicians, but I try to reserve my criticism to their policies and proposals, not how they live. I guess the number of people who think in the “bad” way Mr. French is concerned by is itself concerning, but I accepted long ago that most people think in ways that would worry you. But then a lot of people see you that way, too.

Sitting in the judgment seat is one problem. Drawing broad conclusions from that position is another one.