The thing many Democrats will not allow is that many Republicans are animated by underlying beliefs which they think are either beneficial to society as a whole or save it from error.
These beliefs are the underlying template for all right wing arguments. They inoculate them from many of the feelings of compassion or guilt that a human being who does not share the belief system feels. Emotions that don't fit the template are simply discarded.
Give me the child and I will hand you the man, as a religious order might say.
For instance, folks on the right think that lowering taxes is the key driver for GDP growth.
For instance, they think luck has little influence on outcomes: it is hard work which prevails.
For instance, they think that in the business space, all regulation is bad regulation. It is the job of the market to discover winners and losers.
These things aren't universally true, nor are they universally false but the belief system is unshakeable, regardless of any amount of facts one might marshall.
Even so, many truths are circumstantial. In the circumstances that taxes are crushingly high, lowering them is productive but there is no evidence that this effect is present in low tax societies. There is no doubt that someone like Bill Gates was a hard worker, but there are numerous clever entrepreneurs who discover their idea did not establish demand. Excess regulation is harmful, but insufficient regulation is just as harmful.
When you think about them, these things are obvious. But can you get folks to think about them?
In my experience, the only way to persuade someone of a different political view that they might be wrong (or at least to consider an alternative seriously) is to find someone who is curious enough to challenge the validity of their own template of virtues. That's to say, you're not going to persuade anyone who is not open-minded enough to challenge themselves. And you will not persuade anyone they are wrong about a circumstantial political issue ever. It never happens. Has anyone else ever see that occur in their lives? Ever?
Describing them as lacking virtue is counter-productive. It hardens them against curiosity. And with most people, it is not going to take a day to make them reconsider their philosophy. It takes years.
| 