I keep thinking about this. I think the problem is not, as some Democrats would have it, "Republicans are evil," so much it is "Republicans are convinced that Democrats are evil."
They think all their desperate measures (North Carolina, Supreme Court, etc) are justified because we are evil. They think they are doing what is necessary to save their country from baby-killing, Christian-hating, orgy-having, one-world-government-planning villains, sneering from our ivory towers as we sip our lattes and plan how to steal the money of hard earned small business owner and give it to immigrants to buy their votes so that we elites can stay in power.
I mean, that sounds like a parody, but I know a lot of people who would agree with all of those descriptions with a straight face.
Because they think we're evil, they'll do anything to stop us. Because they think we're evil, they'll vote for whoever promises to oppose us in the strongest terms and refuses to come to any accommodation with us... Which would, again, be an accommodation with evil, in their minds. This is how Trump won, by using those strongest terms. This is why even the "sane" Republicans can't be seen to compromise, lest they lose their seats.
Because they think we're evil, they'll believe any terrible story they hear about us, which makes them very susceptible to fake news.
And of course many Democrats think all Republicans are evil too (especially now, in the age of Trump. 'Cause he really is evil, and they elected him to be their evil bastard -- though he's not. Theirs I mean.)
But in general and up until now, I'd say there's a lot more benefit of the doubt given by Democrats to Republicans. A lot more assumption of good faith. But that's not rewarded, because they think we're evil and they'll do ANYTHING to stop us.
How can we make them believe that we sincerely disagree, but we don't hate them or sneer at them, and we don't hate Christians or babies or stay at home moms or America? What will it take for them to believe us that we share the same goals as them (a prosperous and peaceful country) and just disagree on the best means for achieving that, so that we can debate policy again instead of just calling each other names? (Their policy repertoire has become so impoverished by this whole "If a Democrat is for it, it must be evil" paradigm. Every time we suggest an approach to solving our problems it comes off the list of acceptable approaches for Republicans. We should start suggesting terrible ideas just so they'll say "NUH UH" and do the opposite instead.)
How did this happen? I mean, I know... Phyllis Schafly and Barry Goldwater and Lee Atwater and the Southern Strategy and Reagan's "Welfare Queens" and Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh and Fox News and fake news.
And all Fred Clark's stuff about political "fantasy role playing" and how satisfying it is to defeat the "satanic baby killers" and good Jackie and all that.
And Ta Nahesi Coates and how "white" became an identity because it was a passport out of the lowest class...
And how abortion replaced segregation as the unifying issue for white people because it allowed them to feel they had regained the moral high ground.
And Jonathan Haidt and the differing moral "tastebuds" that attract people to conservatism (a taste for "authority" and "sanctity" and "in-group loyalty")... And about the Just World Fallacy.
Actually, I feel like I know a lot about how it happened. Because I've been kind of obsessed with trying to understand it ever since I wrenchingly abandoned both my faith and my Republican politics as a young adult, leaving my whole family behind in that world, mourning for me.
I guess my question isn't really "How did this happen..." I guess it's "how can we fix it?" How can we "humanize ourselves" as Corb said? How can we convince them we're not devils when they don't believe anything we say, because devils lie?
Democracy cannot work without some basic assumption of good faith on both sides. We can't deliberate and then accept the decision of the majority without that. But Republicans grant us NO benefit of the doubt, NO assumption of good faith, EVER. Whatever we say is instantly assumed to be false because we are the ones who said it, so what can we possibly say that will matter?
Is there any way out of this trap? I'm starting to, depressingly, believe that there is nothing we as Democrats can do about it... except try very hard not to get caught sneering. But that won't fix it, it just won't make it worse. Is there anything that will?
