The Three Languages of Politics

What if the people we disagree with politically are real human beings? What if they're not just total idiots? Kling describes three axes of political tendencies – progressive, conservative, libertarian – and presents the motivations behind each one, getting the reader to empathize instead of dismiss. And from that, perhaps, engage in productive and compassionate discussion.This is a short but powerful booklet. No matter who you are, where you stand on the spectrum, or how compassionate (or not) you believe yourself to be, please consider reading it. Especially now (by which I mean “now”, the moment you're reading this, which may be years after I write these words. I suspect the problems we face will be the same).It's not perfect. Kling offers no solutions to the problem of tribal allegiances (which lead us to form opinions just to help fit in) and of manipulation by malevolent political/religious/media figures. But he does cite excellent references, all of which I've read and can recommend for further study: [b:The Big Sort 2569072 The Big Sort Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart Bill Bishop https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1406084491s/2569072.jpg 2578831], [b:The Myth of the Rational Voter 698866 The Myth of the Rational Voter Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies Bryan Caplan https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349018677s/698866.jpg 685181], [b:Thinking, Fast and Slow 11468377 Thinking, Fast and Slow Daniel Kahneman https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1317793965s/11468377.jpg 16402639], [b:The Righteous Mind 11324722 The Righteous Mind Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion Jonathan Haidt https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1351393217s/11324722.jpg 16252969], [b:You Are Not So Smart 11709037 You Are Not So Smart Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself David McRaney https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1391879112s/11709037.jpg 16656588]. (I was surprised he didn't mention [b:Moral Tribes 17707599 Moral Tribes Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them Joshua Greene https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1368425200s/17707599.jpg 24757128], but then realized it was published later).