There’s been a lot of news coverage and talk about extremists lately, and with the upcoming impeachment trial, I’m sure we’ll hear a lot more.
Depending on your view, you may believe that liberals are more likely to become extremists — or — you may believe that conservatives are more likely to become extremists. Actually, political alignment doesn’t seem to make any difference in those developing extremists tendencies.
Events such as those in Charlottesville in 2017 and the incident at the Capitol on January 6 leads us to wonder what we can do to stop the spread of these extremest ideologies. I certainly don’t have the answer to that question…. from what I’ve read, extremists, especially militant extremists, usually have a mindset that includes nastiness, grudges and excuses. Most extremists strongly endorse statements approving violent acts, such as “killing is justified when it is an act of revenge.” Grudges are often a direct reference to our country, such as “the US is degraded by its COVID pandemic, its alcohol and drug addiction, corruption, of lack of dignified values.” Sometimes the grudge is more general, like “evil has been re-incarnated in the rule of multinational companies.” Although excuses can take several forms, a common feature is justification in people’s own minds of the nasty and violent things they tend to condone.
As I said, I know very little about this subject, but one thing I’ve noticed — no matter what their political, religious, racial, etc. position, extremists find it much harder to admit they’re wrong — about anything, even when it’s got nothing to do with politics, religion, etc. Even when confronted with new evidence, they are less likely to admit they might be wrong.
So — it’s my blog and my opinion, but trying to convince extremists is a waste of time. You may be able to brilliantly argue your point, but that’s all you’ll get out of it… a “won” argument, and probably an alienated relationship.
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