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Are you able to tolerate other people’s political opinions that are different from your own?

Are you able tolerate people with political views opposite of yourself?


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Unitedwestand13

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Here is a important question to know: are differences of political opinion something that you are able to tolerate?
 
Here is a important question to know: are differences of political opinion something that you are able to tolerate?

I mean it depends on the political opinion doesn't it? If you're a literal nazi, totalitarian, fascist, anarchist or supremacist of some stripe, whether white, Jewish, Chinese or whatever, probably not.
 
Yes

But in general I will not talk politics with people in person.

It keeps work relationships possible, and my family is not interested (thank god).
 
I suppose the answer to the question would depend on how the one asking interprets the term, "tolerate".

I have no problem with people having and expressing ANY political opinion. I'm quite willing to discuss that opinion with ANYBODY. What I have see of late, however, is that on regular occasion my disagreement with certain opinions is viewed as a threat, a lie, ignorance or anything else. If someone's political opinion is that I'm an asshole because I disagree with them then I tend to become less tolerant of the individual and generally dismissive of their opinion.
 
Here is a important question to know: are differences of political opinion something that you are able to tolerate?


in general, yes 100% but i underlined OPINION because thats the catch and there would be exceptions to the rule and is it just an opinion or is that opinion accompanied by ACTION/PRACTICE.
 
I mean it depends on the political opinion doesn't it? If you're a literal nazi, totalitarian, fascist, anarchist or supremacist of some stripe, whether white, Jewish, Chinese or whatever, probably not.

I left the question vague to encourage discussion.

The question I am asking people is whether or not they are able to disagree with someone with different political beliefs but still tolerate them despite their differences.
 
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Just don't rub it in my face.

I don't talk religion or politics with friends.
 
Actually, I most often look for them. Which is why I subscribe to The New Yorker and The Atlantic, and a former subscriber to Mother Jones.

What I am intolerant of are stubborn lies wrapped up as perspective.
 
It depends.

Political views. Yes.
Moral and ethical views that have been sucked into political views? No

Example.

Someone thinks the best way to stimulate or grow the economy is tax cuts for the wealthy. Do I agree? No. Do I respect their opinion? Yes.

Someone thinks that America is too colored and needs to stay white because minorities are criminals? Do I agree? No. Do I respect their opinion? No. This is not a political view. This is a racist view adopted by a political party.
 
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I suppose the answer to the question would depend on how the one asking interprets the term, "tolerate".

I have no problem with people having and expressing ANY political opinion. I'm quite willing to discuss that opinion with ANYBODY. What I have see of late, however, is that on regular occasion my disagreement with certain opinions is viewed as a threat, a lie, ignorance or anything else. If someone's political opinion is that I'm an asshole because I disagree with them then I tend to become less tolerant of the individual and generally dismissive of their opinion.

The reason why I mentioned “toleration” is because I recently read an article interviewing a political scientist who argues that mutual toleration and forbearance as essential unwritten rules that need to be followed in order for Our system of government to work properly.

Here is the quote by the author of the book how democracies die that Inspired my question.

We tend to think that the written rules matter a lot, and they do. The written constitution, the written law — these are important.

But our point in How Democracies Die is that unwritten rules matter, too.

Mutual toleration, for example, is a precondition for viable competition because if you don’t accept rivals as legitimate, then you will go to any length possible to prevent them from getting into power or ejecting them from power. And so, in a sense, even treating your rivals as rivals and not enemies is necessary in order for there to be disagreement and for the political game to continue.

Forbearance is about self-restraint and really has its origins in a pre-democratic world. Absolute kings needed to show forbearance and not kill everyone in order to keep their systems stable. So forbearance is a norm about stability. In a democracy, people with power also have to act with forbearance and self-restraint.

Again, this rule isn’t written in the Constitution, but it’s a norm, an unwritten rule. If it’s violated by one side, you get this tendency towards monopoly. If it’s violated on both sides, you get institutional warfare and escalation.

American democracy: Is it broken? - Vox

One of the problems I think with American politics is that the political extremes of both sides consider their political rivals to be enemies
 
The reason why I mentioned “toleration” is because I recently read an article interviewing a political scientist who argues that mutual toleration and forbearance as essential unwritten rules that need to be followed in order for Our system of government to work properly.

Here is the quote by the author of the book how democracies die that Inspired my question.



American democracy: Is it broken? - Vox

One of the problems I think with American politics is that the political extremes of both sides consider their political rivals to be enemies

It is becoming more and more common than a minority of extremists. Political extremes have completely over taken one party and have almost completely over taken the other.
 
I do tolerate other people's views and their right to hold them fast. Should they perceive me as a captive audience to be recruited, I change the subject.
 
The reason why I mentioned “toleration” is because I recently read an article interviewing a political scientist who argues that mutual toleration and forbearance as essential unwritten rules that need to be followed in order for Our system of government to work properly.

Here is the quote by the author of the book how democracies die that Inspired my question.



American democracy: Is it broken? - Vox

One of the problems I think with American politics is that the political extremes of both sides consider their political rivals to be enemies

What we're seeing today is the personalization of politics and it seems to be driven, primarily, by social media. Lots of folks seem to like the idea that they can more or less customize their world and optimize it with regard to all the stuff that works for them. When all that effort and strategy put in to building the world you want gets challenged some people have a hard time accepting that their reality isn't the reality. We see a small example of stuff like that all the time on forums just like this when someone has a total meltdown, posts a GBCW thread or self-terminates because the rules don't work the way they want them to. When I was an admin on another forum several years ago it blew my mind that people would freak out if I gave them a simple warning about conduct. Now, with the increase in social media use, it seems to not only be getting worse but it's bleeding over into primary media sources and even on to main street.

I seriously believe that people are becoming less and less capable of differentiating between real life and "virtual" life.
 
Here is a important question to know: are differences of political opinion something that you are able to tolerate?

If they involve differences over matters such as monetary policy, whether to be aggressive or cautious with China, how much public funding sports stadiums should get, whether we should maintain a presidential system or switch to a parliamentary system, whether schools should focus more on fundamentals or applications, etc., worst-case I'll agree to disagree, and best-case I might even change my mind if they can present their case without being a self-entitled jerk.

If they involve differences over the humanity of people of color, LGBTQs, immigrants, nonchristians (especially Muslims), people who are not men, and so forth, then they are choosing to create a divide that is too great to cross.
 
If the other person has a well thought out and cogent position I can respect that and engage in honest debate. If all they want is a platform to rant against the opposition I can do that too. If they want to wrestle like pigs....... I don't mind getting dirty, and the pigs love it. Getting a few demerits here on DP don't hurt no more than that nun slapping my knuckles with a ruler back in grade school.
 
What we're seeing today is the personalization of politics and it seems to be driven, primarily, by social media. Lots of folks seem to like the idea that they can more or less customize their world and optimize it with regard to all the stuff that works for them. When all that effort and strategy put in to building the world you want gets challenged some people have a hard time accepting that their reality isn't the reality. We see a small example of stuff like that all the time on forums just like this when someone has a total meltdown, posts a GBCW thread or self-terminates because the rules don't work the way they want them to. When I was an admin on another forum several years ago it blew my mind that people would freak out if I gave them a simple warning about conduct. Now, with the increase in social media use, it seems to not only be getting worse but it's bleeding over into primary media sources and even on to main street.

I seriously believe that people are becoming less and less capable of differentiating between real life and "virtual" life.

And what created that mindset? The desire for instant gratification and the over-emphasis on individual self interest that has become prevalent in today’s culture had to have played some role in the phenomenon you described.
 
With me, it depends on if a conservative person I know or meet has their facts right. I'm certainly open to hearing and perhaps even absorbing other takes on a subject. IF they start quoting so-called facts..
(that they got from Rush or Fox news), I try to show/tell them several sources that are mostly scientifically correct. No, I'm not perfect either.
Good example:>
"I heard the ice caps have actually grown in size this past year..which means global warming is wrong..HA!!"
"That's not how you judge an ice cap.How deep is the cap? The warmer water usually melts the cap from underneath. It can LOOK the same from an aerial photograph but in reality, it's lost a lot of it's mass..MASS..that's the key..not the top area"
"Oh I don't believe that. It sounds like a lib...."
"See you later..Have a good life" :)
 
And what created that mindset? The desire for instant gratification and the over-emphasis on individual self interest that has become prevalent in today’s culture had to have played some role in the phenomenon you described.

It's human nature to want to customize the world around you. That's what drove the invention of fire on demand, shelter and clothing...as well as art, entertainemt, science, etc. All that the internet has done is to add another tool to the human toolbox. The difference with social media is that the ability to effect such customization has become MUCH easier, MUCH more accessible to anyone without extensive expertise and it's trackable. People now have a metric in the form of "likes" or "retweets" or "views" that they can use to measure third party perception of their creation. That metric tends to make the whole virtual construct feel more real.
 
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