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Why I Hate the Duopoly
There’s a Reason I’m a Registered Independent
This article was born when a dispute erupted on a Facebook Post I wrote. For those interested in brief genesis stories, see the aside below. If you’re just interested in the meat of the essay, skip ahead to The Meat.
The FB post began, “Trump made the GOP indistinguishable from himself.” A Republican FB friend of mine posted that Trump’s post-election behavior was wholly justified by the widespread evidence of Democratic election fraud. A Democratic FB friend posted a scathing rebuttal buttressed entirely by insults, devoid of any appeals to evidence or rationality. She further said she was immediately blocking my GOP friend.
Ever the sucker for the logical nature of fellow human beings, I posted what I hoped would be a peacemaking explanation of why I allow Duopoly friends I strongly disagree with to post on my FB timeline. It read:
Astrid Snaucey LucI don’t block people for disagreeing with me so long as they do so respectfully. Doing that locks me into an echo chamber where the only opinions I hear are similar to my own. I am often wrong, and when I am, I want to know. If someone tries to prevail by insults and harassment, that draws an instant block.