The few days preceding the election have felt like purgatory. Questions of what the future will look like are abounding — what is in store for our country and planet? But those questions are far too significant to discuss. For now, let’s think about something a little more menial and specific: liberals with conservative friends. What will life be like for them after the election?
This topic may seem insignificant, but the question really bothers me. A lot of people claim President Donald Trump has polarized this country, but in some respects, I feel he’s made it clear how centralized it actually is.
If he’s divided this country in two — those who think he’s a good person, and those who don’t — then those two groups would fully merge political ideologies of people who would not normally consider themselves ideologically similar.
Sure, liberals and Trump supporters have stark differences. But the line between conservatives who hate Trump and liberals who like conservatives is becoming all the more blurry, and I think that’s a bad thing.
I’m talking about those conservatives who adamantly say they’re not Trump supporters. The kind of conservatives who claim to be “pure” — the non-racist kind — who only believe in tax cuts for the wealthy. And an expanded police force. And increased immigration restrictions. And cuts on social welfare programs. But don’t worry, they’re not racist or greedy.
They just want to keep all the money they stole from working-class people and continue to be racist and xenophobic in indirect ways, such as expanding the war on drugs or gerrymandering. They’re quirky like that.
Anyway, it’s this type of conservative whom liberals are friends with or, at the very least, friendly toward. Take the Lincoln Project — a right-wing think tank dedicated to criticizing Trump — whose mission is noble, but whose purpose and ideological aims are corrupt outside of their criticisms of Trump. Just because conservatives are not voting for a racist doesn’t mean they’re good people.
My point is, if my desired election outcome occurs — which I am too afraid to name for fear I will curse it — a degree of polarization is necessary. It is reductive to pretend conservatives who hate Trump are not just as ideologically corrupt and greedy as any other Trump supporter.
Take the whole Chris Pratt debacle for instance. After it was revealed Pratt supported a homophobic church and followed white supremacists on Instagram, a portion of the Avengers cast came to Pratt’s defense and stated he was “apolitical” and just a good “Christian.”
Those who excused Pratt included well-known liberals such as Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. Their defense of Pratt — a man who follows white supremacists on Instagram — is indicative of the extent to which depolarization is dangerous.
If your friend follows PragerU on Instagram, dump them. It’s that easy. I’ve blocked people on Instagram for following Camila Cabello before, so surely blocking someone for following a white supremacist meme page is less extreme.
Take for instance, this New York Times bestselling author’s tweet:
“I had an email exchange with a smart, wealthy conservative friend, lamenting how horrible the GOP has become & how I can’t respect acquaintances or friends who will vote for this nightmare just for tax cuts. His reply – and this is from a guy who benefits from cuts – is glorious:”
Any true conservative is no longer a Republican (and I include myself in that group).
Conservatives stand for:
* fiscal responsibility
* democratic institutions
* honesty
* personal honor and integrity
* science
* smart immigration
* loyalty to allies and strong foreign alliances
* etc., etc.
First of all, since when is it appropriate to openly and shamelessly admit that you have wealthy conservative friends? They discuss politics with incredibly significant consequences in the same way they would discuss the weather over their carefully crafted charcuterie boards, because politics doesn’t affect them in any significant sense. I’m also canceling charcuterie.
Second of all, take notice of how utterly devoid of content this allegedly “glorious” email is. What does “smart immigration” even mean? It also says some characteristics of conservatives are honesty, personal honor, integrity and science.
When did Republicans start consistently standing for honesty or personal honor? Was it with former President Richard Nixon when he bugged the Democratic National Committee? George W. Bush when he started a war and killed thousands of women and children?
The email is an embodiment of all the smoke screens these center-leaning conservatives and liberals employ to make it seem as if conservatism and neoliberalism are ideologies we should be friendly toward rather than diseases that should be done away with.
Trump did not corrupt conservatism or the Republican Party. They were already corrupt, racist and entirely servicing the interests of the wealthy well before Trump became president. But of course, the same is true for the Democratic Party, because opposing Trump does not grant one moral absolution.
Trump is not what is wrong with this country — what is wrong with this country is this country.
If we are able to exorcise Trump from office, your conservative friends will still be conservative, and that’s still gross. Stop being friends with gross people, or at the very least, stop bragging about your email exchanges with them on Twitter.
You’re making things worse by allowing differing opinions to dehumanize, in you mind, & behavior towards, people you disagree with. Grow up. If your attitude, rather than Ruffalo’s, defines the future views of the Democratic Party, then I shall be dumping it very soon.
The people who view others as red or blue, are the modern definition of “racists”.
Why does it matter if the person is a conservative or a liberal?
Isn’t telling half of your country to hate the other half a call for national violence?
Jamaica could not be more wrong. This is not some abstract, high school debate. Right wingers are the greatest terrorist threat in the US. They are actively trying to destroy democracy and support fascism. They must be treated as the clear and present danger that they are. They are not your friends. They will kill you if given the chance.
I’m glad this is a college newspaper and you are still in school, because you have much to learn. Now would be a good time to listen to Biden’s acceptance speech, where he talks about how those who voted for Trump are not the enemy: They are Americans. Is it hard for me to sit with the fact that some of my friends voted for a man whose policies hurt some of my other friends? Yes. But I am not going to trash friendships I’ve had for longer than you’ve been alive because some of my friends are misinformed.