Why are folks who dislike Biden so much more sensible than those who like him?
Here are two wrong answers to that question:
“Um, they aren’t???”
Of course they are – and not because they can see the obvious. But I’m not going to change anyone’s mind here, so all I’ll say is if you’re not spending time in a range of communities, you’re not qualified to disagree.
“Because we’re so much smarter!”
Nah, that’s not it either.
The zeitgeist is in an interesting place right now.
It’s easy to be woke. People act like it’s so revolutionary, like it’s taking a stand against the powers that be.
Except the media, legal system, politicians and corporations are on that side. They all march in lock step and going woke means marching with them.
The defiant side takes courage to join. That’s why, when the establishment were all corporate conservatives, the interesting radicals were hippie poets.
There’s more than that, though.
When I hang out on the right, I hear from plenty of folks who say they used to follow liberal politics until liberal politics changed. The left used to endorse free speech, diversity, scepticism of power and fairness. Now, you only get that on the right.
So right wing communities have right wing lifers plus a healthy number of converts.
But I rarely see people going the other way.
You would, though, if the culture and the power swing over to the right. If that becomes the easy, endorsed option, then lots of people will follow it.
Until then, the only place you get diversity, discussion and deep dives is outside the woke spaces.
Want to know how to join communities across the political spectrum?
It gets easier when you stop demonising people.
For that, you need Your Story Isn’t About You: