You see, that’s a higher level of think-thru than most people are willing or able to sustain.

There’s a thought experiment I like to do with people who become so partisan they become blind, to see if they’re capable of grasping the wider issue. There’s lots of people on both the left and the right who struggle to imagine any relatively recent controversial historical episode, be it Jan 6, the George Floyd riots, the Oct 7th Hamas attack (take your pick) and simply switch all the partisan players and analyze how you feel about the circumstances. Do your feelings change?

So if on Jan 6, Trump wins, Biden holds a rally where he doesn’t explicitly say “attack the capitol” but alludes to the necessity of force and that, though he can’t produce any coherent proof, claims again and again that Trump stole the election. A throng of black-clad Antifa attack the capital, cameras rolling, senators fleeing, same run down of events.

How do you think we should handle those antifa attackers? And Biden in this scenario? Would you feel different about how it should be handled if all the players switched?

Usually one of three things comes out of this:
1. The dodge.. they quibble with details, they claim conspiracy, the muddle everything and they just totally avoid the actual conversation. They either can’t or won’t play along.

2. The lie, either to me, themselves or both… They claim they’d feel no different. Id ask “so the Antifa should be let go and Biden in that scenario would have zero consequences and you’re cool that it was all just some big misunderstanding?” Sure, yep. We all know they wouldn’t feel that way but okay, sure. Again, not able or willing to play along.

3. The revelation… this almost never happens. “yea, I guess I’d want them prosecuted to the full extent. I’d hold Biden accountable in that scenario” etc.

Sometimes they straight-up concede they have a bias for their side that supersedes truth and justice. If they come out with that then they’re telling you they’re totally lost. They can’t see humans, only affiliations.

Because here’s the deal, if you’re an honest person and capable of thinking things through fully, and you’re able to do the switch up thought experiment, you come up with answers and solutions that are necessarily going to be more just, rational and long term. Because they are independent of ideology. It’s about rule of law, not rule of ideology.

I know so many people of every stripe, I’m sure you do to, who can’t see beyond a few months or years out. They either can’t or won’t consider the idea of precedent, what it means to win the battle and lose the war. Some of it is pure cynicism. They’re fatalists and just want what they want right now, future everyone and everything be d*mned. Those people are usually very damaged and should be avoided and not trusted with collective decisions. But then there’s the people who simply can’t see the bigger picture, game out the implications and the longer potential outcomes, intended or otherwise. I believe it’s a lot of people in this group. There’s no arguing with them and frankly no point getting angry with them. It’s like being angry at color blind people for not seeing purple.