We Spend Too Much Time Hating "The Other"

Social fissures.

Over the weekend, it appears David French debuted as a New York Times columnist. (My father-in-law, and many others I know, instantly dismiss that as a “meaningless liberal rag.”) Here’s the debut column. He’s mostly talking about cops, and the hot take issue of the moment: Is it a systemic problem, or “a few bad apples?” How you come down on that generally helps define “your tribe” to other people. Near the end, he gets to two parts. The first part is this:

How do we fight past our partisanship to become truly curious about the truth? For me, the answer started with the first principle of my conservatism: Human beings possess incalculable worth. If that is true, and my neighbors and fellow citizens are crying out about injustice, I should hear their voices and carefully consider their claims.

I personally agree with this take, but it’s very hard for people to do this — identity is such an important thing for humans, and it’s only gotten more important as traditional paths to relevance have eroded.

The second part of that French column — similar themes to the first pull quote — is this:

The lesson I’ve taken has been clear: Any time my tribe or my allies are under fire, before I yield to the temptation of a reflexive defense, I should apply my principles and carefully consider the most uncomfortable of thoughts: My opponents might be right, my allies might be wrong and justice may require that I change my mind. And it may, in all likelihood, require that I do this again and again.

Again, true — but hard for people.

This whole thing does speak to an alarming trend in the rise of partisanship, polarization, and identity/culture wars: Are we dehumanizing “the other?”