NPR did a segment on how people from different sides of the spectrum tend to see each other in a negative light. I TRY NOT TO man, but someone yesterday told me to my face, "Those mother fuckers should burn", because his neighbor made a sound complaint about his chickens.
Our city is NEXT TO LA. I'm a farmer, and so is he. I don't understand his worldview at all. He's an immigrant, and he's anti-immigration. His business struggles to compete with larger businesses, but he fears socialism. He brags about freedom of speech and the pursuit of happiness, but he thinks he should be able to control women's bodies. Also, he said a bunch of people should die in a fire. My sister has cerebral paulsy, and if you don't know, a lot of people who died in the fire couldn't run for the same reason. I wanted to spit in his face. I'm a bald, white, male farmer, so people open up to me, thinking they're in good company. I look like a redneck, and technically, I have one. The shit people say is wild. It tends to darken my world view. I try not to focus on them, though, except in ways I can be kind and slowly sway them, hopefully.