AIBU for thinking hating people for their political leanings is perfectly normal?

[VelvetChairGirl]

I have been reading a brexit thread on here and lots of brexit voters in it seem horrified that they are hated and families have stopped talking to each other, and cut each other off over it.

but its politics nothing affects us more then politics, we have people who cut off others for believing in conspiracy theories and things. Brexit is the biggest shake up in this country in my life time, its taken away our freedom of movement for work and education, needlessly introduced a tonne of red tape, made our rights and standards extremely vulnerable to being destroyed (tories dont like food standards and workers rights this is well documented and they are in charge right now), reduced our standing in the world and will very likely lead us to being the poor man of Europe again, not to mention the fact its cut off vital EU funding to science research, regeneration and education projects up and down the county.

it affects everyone, of course people are perfectly entitled to hate those who voted to hurt them financially, prospects wise etc as much as they would hate someone who physically stole from them, theres very little difference is there?

Why waste energy and time hating someone's opinion, given that you can't change it, and everyone is entitled to their view?

You won't achieve anything. Can't you think of anything more positive to do?

My dad was very right wing, racist, misogynistic etc but he was a very old man, nothing I said changed his views, so I just went NC and forgot about him. Job done. I certainly didn't waste time thinking about him.

There used to be this idea of 'light, not heat'. That's why Nick Griffin was asked onto Question Time in 2009. Rather than attacking the position, expose it to rigorous interrogation and the whole thing falls apart. His standing never recovered and the BNP's vote share dwindled.

I'm not sure about this. Is this why Nigel Farage (in the period before the Brexit referendum) got lots and lots of air time, far more than was justified by the UKIP vote share? If so, I'm not sure it worked as a tactic

@PooWillyNameChange

Hating is very strong. Most brexiteers I know I never really considered very intelligent or well informed to start with. I'm sure that cross section does exist, but I did not experience it. My mum voted for brexit but I hated her anyway and she has other very questionable beliefs.

They probably feel the same way about you tbh.

Is this not working properly I see no votes?

67% yabu, op.

I am a Remainer . I don’t hate people who voted for Brexit. But I do abhor the extremist Brexiteers because for me they fall into the that category mentioned lots of times above of extreme politics that it seems many people seem to make an exception for . This is due to their racism and not caring whether others are significantly economically prejudiced by their actions.
Not sure if I can explain the difference between abhor and hate though.
But in the case of my extreme Brexiteer brother ( who I would consider intelligent by the way ) I have stopped speaking to him because of it.

I don’t hate him as that seems to imply an active action . I just cut him out of my life .

@Angrymum22

Respecting other people’s point of view and beliefs is a sign of tolerance and intelligence. You are never going to change someone’s mind by ridicule or rudeness.

There are lots of point of view I have no respect for. I do not respect the Taliban, I do not respect the GOP trying to eradicate access to abortion. I do not respect Nigel Farage's anti-immigrant stirring.

“Similarly if someone prioritises their personal wealth over the pain of others they are probably a bad person and I am going to dislike them, even if they seem pleasant on the face of things.”

It’s not that black or white though is it? If you’re talking uk party politics then there is no clear party to vote for. And if you’re speaking generally, unless you’re a missionary or aid worker or similar then you probably prioritise your own personal wealth over the pain of others. There is always someone better off and always someone worse off than you.

Depends how extreme it is. If someone is more Conservative and I'm more Labour, or Lib Dem there will be some common ground, even though we may disagree on many things. If someone's a neo-nazi, or extreme totalitarian left, perhaps not so much.

You are literally a bigot.

I don’t fall out with anyone over politics, certainly not friends and family. If anything I have come to understand others POV more in the last couple of years.

Hate is perhaps a little strong, but loathing is perfectly fine . I loathe and despise ill informed or borderline racist Brexit supporters. It has made the UK the laughing stock of the world, and to go ahead with it during a global pandemic was lunacy. I live in the EU, and really resent that my son can't come and study here, or that travel is so much more expensive. And when I hear from my elderly parents about food shortages, that are a direct result of Brexit, the am incandescent with rage. OP, you said nothing wrong.

I don’t know that I’d hate them as such but I’d certainly distance myself from people who hold very extreme views I didn’t agree with. Surely holding similar values are what links us to the people we enjoy spending time with?

Yabu to say “hate”.

Disagree with people, but engage with them. Liking and understanding people who are similar to you is easy, it’s the people who think differently who are hard to understand - but that doesn’t mean it’s ok to “hate” them. That’s a very small step to saying people who disagree with you don’t matter and that’s the thinking that leads to wars.

It’s not just about opinions though is it - the way people vote is an expression of their morals and values. While I would never hate anyone for disagreeing with me, I do have to question the values of people who (e.g.) vote for a party that presides over massive cuts to welfare. And to be honest this does make me inclined to dislike them.

Exactly. In my experience someone’s politics are generally a pretty good indicator of what they’re like as a person. I may not dislike them purely for their politics but I’ll sure as hell dislike them for their personality, and their politics are a pretty good indicator of that.

I have a very strained relationship with my father, because he’s a arrogant, racist, homophobic, misogynistic, xenophobic pig. It became even more strained in the run-up and aftermath of the Brexit referendum. He’d tell you I stopped speaking to him because he voted for Brexit. The truth is that his vote in the referendum reflected his racism, xenophobia, and arrogance, and I decided I’d had enough of it.

@MajorCarolDanvers

Unless you are talking about extreme politics - facism etc then its completely unreasonable to hate someone because they have different opinions to you.

And comparing someone who has a different view on how the economics of the country should run to someone committing a criminal offence is also unreasonable.

I would suggest that it is undemocratic to hate someone for thinking differently.

I think brexit is pretty damn extreme its ripping up the way of life I grew up with, everythig I know and returning us to the dark days my mother talked about of poor man of Europe, bin strikes, deprivation, empty shelves, power cuts, she was very pro EU said this country was a absolute dump until we joined but people are blind.

I am a single mum on benefits, all the job centre help programes I have been on were funded by the EU not this government, the working time directive etc come from EU law as does the minimum wage. my son is annoyed he had his heart set on getting an apprenticeship in Germany after seeing them at a jobs fare I dragged him round (he's only 11 but hoped, Mercedes apprenticeships at their factories).

I honestly dont see it as any different to say the germans in 1930s voting in Hitler its ripping up an entire way of life because a few fascist politicians blamed foreigners for everything.

@FreeBritnee

Well I don’t know. If you felt that the Tories were plunging your family into poverty then I can completely understand why you might hate Tory voters. That’s just common sense. It would require you to have an extremely strong opinion on a subject in the first place though.

But that works both ways, surely? Should Tory voters hate Labour voters for wanting a regime which “steals” more of their money through taxation to give to people who they don’t necessarily view as deserving of it and thus removing money from their household which they could use to benefit their own DC?

I’m broadly centre-left, and I still I always find it an odd dynamic, that on the whole the right generally manages to disagree with the left without it turning into an issue of morality or personal affront; whereas the left is far more prone to attacking the right on a personal and moral level.

@OneTC

It's becoming perfectly normal, or usual, though, which is a pretty unfortunate development for society

This.

I was frankly appalled by the vitriolic and personal attacks from both sides during Brexit. Not to mention the unwillingness to even consider that others might legitimately think differently. Now I'm seeing the same during Covid. Have we really become this intolerant? Are we really unable to have an open, respectful and honest discussion?

I think hating a person rather than hating their views (if you must hate anything) is narrow minded and mean spirited.

To hate over 50% of the population is pretty bad.

There are lots of point of view I have no respect for. I do not respect the Taliban, I do not respect the GOP trying to eradicate access to abortion. I do not respect Nigel Farage's anti-immigrant stirring.

Agree. I don’t know where this idea came from that every viewpoint is worthy of respect and tolerance.

@Seeline

True hatred is going a bit far unless it's against the Nazis or similar.

In a democracy people have the right to have different views, and most will act in a way that they feel benefits them first and the rest of society second. Just because you do not agree with their point of view is not a reason for hatred.

This 🙌🏽🙏👏🏽

I don’t know, I don’t think I even really ‘hate’ people who are in the EDL. I more just feel that they’re people who are wrong and I wouldn’t want them in my life. Hate takes a huge amount of effort and I can really only muster it up for people who have hurt me personally in a bad way. So no, I don’t hate those with different political views, I just disagree with them.

You can tip into the ‘why can’t people be less judgemental and more like ME’ that Simon Amstel mentions if you start just hating people who disagree with you.

@Mysterian

To hate over 50% of the population is pretty bad.

50% of the population didnt vote

www.electoralcommission.org.uk/who-we-are-and-what-we-do/elections-and-referendums/past-elections-and-referendums/eu-referendum/results-and-turnout-eu-referendum

SM has got a massive part to play in the polarisation and whipping up of hatred that we are now seeing in society. It allowed people to become fixated on what the feel is the 'right way' and anyone else that doesn't feel the same is the enemy.

A genocide was actually incited on Facebook, 6700 people were murdered in ethnic cleansing in Myanmar. the military set up many accounts under fake names and incited the deaths of these people.

Obviously this is the extreme end of the edge OP but what you are feeling towards people that dont think like you in still on that scale - but at the lower end.

I am friends with people that have different political beliefs than me, I also know a flat earther. People are allowed to think differently or we would all be clones of each other.

If you have actively hated family members and friends because of their beliefs then its you who needs to look in the mirror at what type of person you are.