Why can seemingly reasonable people come to absolutely absurd political beliefs? Alot of the differences between political views stems from people's basic perceptions of reality. That is to say, the way in which people view events determines what they think they are viewing. I will attempt to give some examples. I hope that this might help some people understand how others can have such vastly different opinions of mutually observed events and people. The best hope for democracy is for people to learn how to agree to disagree, with out resorting to extreme behavior.
View #1: People are evil by nature, it is only through discipline and or religion that any learn to be good.
View #2: People are basically good, it is society and other influences that make people to bad things.
These views are a good example. Which one you believe is going to radically affect how you see other things like, criminal justice or the war on terrorism.
View #1: No one can take away personal responsibility. Every one is accountable for their actions.
View #2: Personal responsibility should take into account circumstances. A person should not be responsible if society or their environment drove them to do some that they couldn't be expected to do any different.
Another good example that would influence opinions on law enforcement and criminal justice among other things.
View #1: America is alone. No other country on this planet can compare with our power, economically or militarily. As the only super power we need act differently than other countries.
View #2: America needs to recognize that we are no better than any other modernized country and should treat other countries as equals.
By now I think you get what I am saying. I will not go into which views are right or wrong (should be obvious) but recognizing these basic perceptions in other people may go a long way in helping you understand why, they think like they do and maybe even find some common ground, maybe.
- Chief