Monthly Archives: March 2019

Let go of Contempt

Great article by Arthur C. Brooks on how to have compassionate communication with and about those we disagree with in politics, spirituality, philosophy and more. He sites that The problem in America today is not incivility or intolerance, rather, it is “motive attribution asymmetry” which breeds contempt.

“What we need is not to disagree less, but to disagree better. And that starts when you turn away the rhetorical dope peddlers — the powerful people on your own side who are profiting from the culture of contempt. As satisfying as it can feel to hear that your foes are irredeemable, stupid and deviant, remember: When you find yourself hating something, someone is making money or winning elections or getting more famous and powerful. Unless a leader is actually teaching you something you didn’t know or expanding your worldview and moral outlook, you are being used.”