Why Do Republicans and Democrats Hate Each Other? (Psychology Today, Cultural Animal)

Roy Baumeister · 11 May 2023

The piece opens with

Perhaps the optimal outcome for a modern democracy is ongoing alternation in power between left and right

Their wordsInstead of thinking that one is always right and the other always wrong, perhaps the optimal outcome for a modern democracy is an ongoing alternation in power between the left and the right.

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Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
Perhaps the optimal outcome for a modern democracy is ongoing alternation in power between left and right

Their wordsInstead of thinking that one is always right and the other always wrong, perhaps the optimal outcome for a modern democracy is an ongoing alternation in power between the left and the right.
Our reading
A thriving society needs both the left's redistributing of resources and the right's producing and conserving of them

Their wordsIn short, the left focuses on redistributing and sharing resources. The right focuses on producing and conserving them. A thriving society needs both of these jobs to get done.
Our reading
Incentives create inequality by definition; inequality is their very purpose

Their wordsBut incentives create inequality–by definition! Inequality is the very purpose of incentives.
Our reading
Unregulated marketplaces give rise to environmental degradation, exploitation and other problems

Their wordsBut letting the political rightists run things soon creates problems too. Unregulated marketplaces give rise to environmental degradation, exploitation, and other problems.
Our reading
Political hatred and demonization may suit short-term vote-getting but, I think, do considerable long-run damage to the social fabric

Their wordsHatred and demonization may be well suited to short-term vote-getting and also well suited to social media, but in the long run, I think they do considerable damage to the social fabric.

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