Open minds, closed minds
Here is a review of an intriguing new book by University of Virginia professor Jonathan Haidt. Haidt’s argument is that conservatives know liberal arguments far better than liberals understand conservative arguments. Liberals (as Haidt refers to statists, authoritarians, collectivists…) are really not much interested in the battle of ideas. They’re mostly content to impugn the motives or belittle the intelligence of those who have the temerity to argue against their plans for remaking society.
A bit of evidence I would add is the way John Stossel is treated. He has often said that conservatives are at least willing to listen to his libertarian case even though it conflicts with such conservative articles of faith as the war on drugs, but that the left simply demonizes him for dissenting from their articles of faith such as economic planning by the state.
3 comments
George, conservatives also are too easily intimidated by the Left’s bullying tactics. If they throw an accusation of “hater” or “bigot” our way, we too easily fold, when in reality it’s simply an attempt to distract from arguing on facts.
Quite true, David. The explanation for that behavior, I think, is that since the statists believe they are justified in using the coercive power of government to accomplish their goals (Obama’s “remaking of society”), they have no need to use reason in an effort to persuade people.
You have missed the point entirely of Haidt’s book–but then it’s easy to miss points when you can’t see anything other than the political duality of us/them, liberal/conservative, good/bad.
Haidt is arguing that the entire political environment is dominated by demonizing from both sides–left wing people calling Bush Satan, and right wingers labeling Obama as Hitler.
Haidt says that progress can only be made when people stop this juvenile and cartoonish characterization of other people’s opinions and instead listen–YES LISTEN–to the other side and find some sort of common ground and compromise. As he told Bill Moyers a few weeks ago:
“That’s right. Manichaeus was a, I think, third century Persian prophet, who preached that the world is a battleground between the forces of light, and the forces of darkness. And everybody has to take a side. And some people have sided with good, and of course, we all believe that we’ve sided with good. But that means that the other people have sided with evil.
And when it gets so that your opponents are not just people you disagree with, but when it gets to the mental state in which I am fighting for good, and you are fighting for evil, it’s very difficult to compromise. Compromise becomes a dirty word.”
Watch or read the full interview. You may want to delete this post afterward.
http://billmoyers.com/segment/jonathan-haidt-explains-our-contentious-culture/
And David: The “left’s bullying tactics?” I’m sorry dude but that’s the type of a statement only someone who lives in a political vacuum would make.
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