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?

YABVVU @VelvetChairGirl

And I have found the only people who are massively judgemental, and block and unfriend people who don't agree with their political views, (and assume all their own views are the only correct ones,) are the very left leaning people.

I am neither right nor left, but I do find the left (moreso far left,) WAY more judgemental and snide and rude, and more likely to unfriend people who don't think like them, than those who are right-leaning...

I think to hate a person for having a different and opposing political view is madness.

I love this thread. Everyone falling over themselves to virtue signal how right on and tolerant they are. Meanwhile back in the real world …

I might disagree with people, have less in common or like them less because of their beliefs but nothing that would rise to the level of hatred.
I might distance myself if the views were extreme and all the person talked about.

Hate is too strong a word here for me but how I feel depends on the circumstances.

If someone has genuinely researched and understood the political position they have taken and what it means, I may disagree but I completely respect them for putting in the time and effort to do so. In fact, I'd really enjoy the debate and discussion.

If someone is repeating misinformation or sound bites from right or left wing media or social media without validating them then I feel bad for them because they are being misled by people/organisations they trust.

If someone with power or influence is spreading misinformation or, worse, knowingly lying with the intent of manipulating others then, yes, I think it's perfectly acceptable to dislike them.

But hate is too strong.

@Blossomtoes

I love this thread. Everyone falling over themselves to virtue signal how right on and tolerant they are. Meanwhile back in the real world …

I find the real world far more tolerant than on here

Especially given some statements from the left about how they hate everyone who doesn’t think as they do.

Maybe I’m lucky but I don’t see the same pockets of hate

You can't see th difference between Brexit and Hitler? Jesus wept, sort yourself out

@EvenRosesHaveThorns

You can't see th difference between Brexit and Hitler? Jesus wept, sort yourself out

Please don’t tell me someone said that! Ffs, this place.

It's not normal to feel like this about the majority of UK voters

I find the real world far more tolerant than on here

Yes

@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.

Agreed. It’s also the real meaning of liberalism.

wrt to what I said earlier about extreme political views maybe being an exception. I wish to backtrack a bit

I find it very hard to hate an individual for holding beliefs even if I find them abhorrent. There are regimes, religions and political views that I struggle to see any good in at an organisational level but I view every individual component of it (ie it's adherents) as being people to engage with, most of whom just want to get on with their lives. I've had my mind changed in my life, and been educated to boot by people presenting other views with respect. I've never been shouted or insulted into thinking differently. I've known people with pretty fucking racist views who've opened their eyes because people have engaged with them rather than abuse them.

I've been involved in direct action against groups and never actively hated them, just what they represent. In mainstream politics I don't conflate a particular voter with their party because in general it's way more complicated than that

Do I hate (or even dislike) everyone who voted for Brexit? No, of course not.

I do feel it was a terrible decision, but we all make terrible decisions every day (I'm going to do so in about an hour and pour myself an enormous glass of wine) and going around hating everyone for bad decisions is a fruitless exercise.

Do I hate the architects of Brexit with a burning passion? Damned right I do. They were lying larcenous shitheels who ran an illegal campaign using extremely dodgy methods to target people's worst fears, all to enrich themselves and their pals to the detriment of every citizen of this country and many more besides. I wouldn't act violently but I do hope their every day is tormented by toothache, acid reflux and piles. Possibly throw in some erectile disfunction.

So yes, I can hate people for the appalling actions they took; I can't hate everyone who believed that steaming pile of horse dung they were peddling.

@Blossomtoes

I love this thread. Everyone falling over themselves to virtue signal how right on and tolerant they are. Meanwhile back in the real world …

If you seriously think everyone's hating each other IRL, I'd take a look at who I was surrounding myself with.

I judge, I roll my eyes and I've changed
my opinion of someone because of their views but I don't hate them.

I also think some people also use the word 'hate' far too lightly.

Stompythedinosaur

Like the Brexiteers did when we joined the EU?

Do you mean the EEC?

I'm glad we live in a democracy. I might disagree with someone's political views, but to hate them for it is awful, in my opinion. Cutting members of your family off because they disagree with you on what would be a better option for the country is bigoted and intolerant.

I think hating someone for voting Brexit demonstrates a level of fascism I'm uncomfortable with. We don't live in a one party state, thank God, and people are entitled to hold different views.

No, it's not normal to answer your Q.

“If my neighbour is a racist xenophobe”

How would you know though or are you making assumptions based on age or appearance, or that they voted for brexit?

@Lollipop444

“If my neighbour is a racist xenophobe”

How would you know though or are you making assumptions based on age or appearance, or that they voted for brexit?

Plus if they are a racist/xenophobe, then your dislike wouldn’t be because you have different political opinions, but would be based on their racist behaviour. It’s a different situation to hating someone because they voted Labour or Conservative or whatever.

Encouraging people to hate those that think/live differently from them has never ended well.

Try reading some history books OP it might help you get some context to where hating others will lead you.

Yeah I agree op. Not just over brexit. But why would I not hate someone who hates poor people and wants to destroy the NHS. Perfectly normal to feel like this. I think I couldn't be that bothered about my own political beliefs if I didn't feel like this.

‘But why would I not hate someone who hates poor people and wants to destroy the NHS.’

Because you want to treat other human beings with compassion, even when their views are different to yours.

The difference between your analogy of a person stealing from you and voting for brexit is that where someone actually steals from you they know and agree they are harming you. Presumably people who voted for Brexit think that it would improve the country rather than harm you. While you may disagree that it improves the country you should recognise the difference in intention.

The issue in political discussion these days is that people see the other side as “evil” rather than just wrong/different. I tend to assume that people who vote a different way from me want good things for the country but differ as to what’s important or how to achieve the same good ends. So I don’t think they are evil, just wrong or with different priorities.

Trying to understand other people’s views should be seen as a good thing. We’ll never reach compromises if we can’t at least try.

@Neonplant. But hating them won’t get you anywhere. If you want them to vote for policies to support poor people and fund the NHS, you need to change their minds. Hating them or being hostile towards them won’t achieve that, they’ll just get more entrenched in their views.

‘The difference between your analogy of a person stealing from you and voting for brexit is that where someone actually steals from you they know and agree they are harming you. Presumably people who voted for Brexit think that it would improve the country rather than harm you. While you may disagree that it improves the country you should recognise the difference in intention.’

The difference is that membership of the EU was never something you owned. It was something we owned as a nation which we collectively decided to leave.

That too!