On Political Tribalism

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Stephen Fry just articulated with astonishing clarity and wit exactly what I was trying to say last week .

Choice quotes:

For a Labour voter to hate a Tory voter or vice versa is for us all to stumble into the revolting and nonsensical little-endian big-endian madness that Swift pilloried in Gulliver's Travels.

However one thing has remained constant in my political affiliations, and that is a deep contempt and fear of tribalism. When I meet a Labour voter who can only hiss, stamp and fume at any Tory, or a Conservative voter who can only jeer and condemn a Labour voter then I bridle, bristle and simply writhe with indignation. Let this be known and celebrated: we all have the right to vote the way we want. We all have our reasons and motivations and they do not justify anyone insulting or reviling us.
Marvellous.

 

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Comments

I'm an American, but we see plenty of bitterness here, too. Sometimes the anger even sounds hateful--and that makes it hard for me to identify with any party. I don't see much hope of it stopping, but it's nice to know I'm not the only one who's tired of it.

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About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Adam Tinworth published on May 4, 2010 5:52 PM.

Electoral Fraud and Violence Against Journalists was the previous entry in this blog.

Journalism and Hung Parliaments is the next entry in this blog.

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