I CAN TOLERATE ANYTHING Except The Outgroup.

Today we have an almost unprecedented situation.

We have a lot of people . . . boasting of being able to tolerate everyone from every outgroup they can imagine . . .

And we have those same people absolutely ripping into their in-groups – straight, white, male, hetero, cis, American, whatever . . .

What is going on here? . . .

The Red Tribe is most classically typified by conservative political beliefs, strong evangelical religious beliefs, . . .

The Blue Tribe is most classically typified by liberal political beliefs, vague agnosticism, supporting gay rights, . . .

You can talk all you want about Islamophobia, but my friend’s “intelligent, reasoned, and thoughtful people” – her name for the Blue Tribe – can’t get together enough energy to really hate Osama, let alone Muslims in general. We understand that what he did was bad, but it didn’t anger us personally. When he died, we were able to very rationally apply our better nature and our Far Mode beliefs about how it’s never right to be happy about anyone else’s death.

On the other hand, that same group absolutely loathed Thatcher. Most of us (though not all) can agree, if the question is posed explicitly, that Osama was a worse person than Thatcher. But in terms of actual gut feeling? Osama provokes a snap judgment of “flawed human being”, Thatcher a snap judgment of “scum”. . . .

My hypothesis, stated plainly, is that if you’re part of the Blue Tribe, then your outgroup isn’t al-Qaeda, or Muslims, or blacks, or gays, or transpeople, or Jews, or atheists – it’s the Red Tribe.