I know I’m not meant to say that. Obviously if I want to engage with and understand people with different opinions, then writing this goes against my purpose. But I would feel disingenuous if I didn’t admit it. And it wouldn’t hurt some people to hear it either. In a week where Ellen Degeneres tried to pass off a friendship with acknowledged war criminal, George Bush by saying we should be nice to everyone whether or not they agree with us, I thought it was important to be open about how I look at those who disagree with me.
I’m not sure if it just me that has changed or the nature of politics under our failing democratic systems. I wrote a few years back that you can hold whatever opinion you like, but if your actions don’t negatively affect other people, I don’t really mind.
I don’t think like that anymore though. I used to try to make a distinction between opinion and action, but in the era of news by social media consensus, this is harder to do. If you publicly advocate a position, you are potentially affecting the voting behaviour of others. Moreover, your voting is an action that is (ideally- unless you just do what Rupert Murdoch tells you to) a direct reflection of your opinion- and your vote makes a difference.
Look no further than the last election. If you voted for the Liberals or any of their proxies such as Hanson and the Nationals, you have contributed to a government hell-bent on upwards redistribution of the nation’s wealth in order to please their corporate donors. You have voted for using the misery of refugees as a political plaything, continuing to stick our heads in the sand about climate change and proudly watching as Scott Morrison tries to sycophantically ingratiate himself further with Donald Trump by propelling our defence force unnecessarily into any upcoming conflict with Iran and China. This will have a real effect on people’s lives and I don’t feel any obligation to forgive you for that.
Maybe I’ve become intolerant, but I also think people need to be responsible for their words and actions. Obviously there are many things we can disagree on that would have no bearing on how I see someone, but certain opinions are really hard to get past because they belie values and traits that I don’t respect.
Ignorance is dangerous. If you contribute to the spread of anti-vax nonsense, you are putting people’s lives at risk. Advocating similarly stupid anti-science positions denying climate change is not harmless either.
Selfishness and pettiness are choices. If you would rather punish welfare recipients for ‘being lazy,’ than make sure they have enough money to feed their families and pay their bills, or if you think people born in other countries don’t deserve even basic empathy or compassion, that tells me a lot about you and I my opinion will reflect that.
And however you dress it up, cowardice is something I judge you for too. Fears about the impact of refugees, immigration and Islam (all of which Australia has experienced for over a century) are not patriotism, they are fear, much of which doesn’t really reflect factual analysis.
So yeah, these days I do judge people for their beliefs, at least the ones they publicly proclaim.
If you are liberal-voting, refugee-hating, coal-loving person reading this and wondering why we are still friends, that is a fair question. I should repeat that I won’t define someone solely by their opinion and there are many other important facets that contribute to the totality of our identity. If anything, it shows how much I respect other aspects of your person if I still consider us friends, but don’t be under any misunderstanding. I may still respect you and I will (hopefully) treat you respectfully even if I don’t, but I do think less of you.
This article was first published on quietblog.
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