The Nutcase Across The Street
Reflections On American Politics
Introduction
My name is Daniel Noe and I am an American citizen. Like most of you, I am nobody special. I work full time for a living. This is my first book. I’m not a politician, nor do I plan to be, but I am interested in the political affairs of this country.
Like many of my fellow citizens I am concerned by the amount of political strife in our country. Public debate seems to become ever more vitriolic and the populace seems to become ever more polarized. Hateful, prejudicial, and downright nonsensical statements spoken by my coworkers, friends, and family about politics make me question their judgment and doubt that I can ever trust them – with anything. What is wrong with everybody? Or alternately, what is wrong with me? Ever since I was young I was very curious how and why people thought differently. That two people, when given the same information, would come to different conclusions was a fascinating phenomenon worth studying. When I grew up and learned about politics, I was stunned by people’s behavior. I understood selfishness, but I never understood why one would go out of one’s own way, even to one’s own detriment, just to hurt another.
From what I have heard, these are the feelings shared by many: that most of our fellow Americans are hopelessly deranged and must be defeated at all costs. Republicans hate Democrats, Democrats hate Republicans, Libertarians hate both, and communists, environmentalists, and islamofascists want to overthrow the whole system. Politicians of all parties lie to get elected, sometimes even politicians we otherwise like and support. In the meantime, we try to do the right thing by staying informed, but it is difficult, and many of us are not sure who to believe anymore.
This book is about how systems and individuals keep us divided, why they do it, and what to do about it. I believe that most people are reachable if we could only understand each other. I wrote this book in the hope that it will help us do this. To understand and be understood are fundamental emotional needs. I hope to meet them. I not only write this book for you, but for myself. This book is largely a story of how I attempted to reach out to those I disagreed with, and what happened as a result. Perhaps if it works for you, you can do the same.
Like many of my fellow citizens I am concerned by the amount of political strife in our country. Public debate seems to become ever more vitriolic and the populace seems to become ever more polarized. Hateful, prejudicial, and downright nonsensical statements spoken by my coworkers, friends, and family about politics make me question their judgment and doubt that I can ever trust them – with anything. What is wrong with everybody? Or alternately, what is wrong with me? Ever since I was young I was very curious how and why people thought differently. That two people, when given the same information, would come to different conclusions was a fascinating phenomenon worth studying. When I grew up and learned about politics, I was stunned by people’s behavior. I understood selfishness, but I never understood why one would go out of one’s own way, even to one’s own detriment, just to hurt another.
From what I have heard, these are the feelings shared by many: that most of our fellow Americans are hopelessly deranged and must be defeated at all costs. Republicans hate Democrats, Democrats hate Republicans, Libertarians hate both, and communists, environmentalists, and islamofascists want to overthrow the whole system. Politicians of all parties lie to get elected, sometimes even politicians we otherwise like and support. In the meantime, we try to do the right thing by staying informed, but it is difficult, and many of us are not sure who to believe anymore.
This book is about how systems and individuals keep us divided, why they do it, and what to do about it. I believe that most people are reachable if we could only understand each other. I wrote this book in the hope that it will help us do this. To understand and be understood are fundamental emotional needs. I hope to meet them. I not only write this book for you, but for myself. This book is largely a story of how I attempted to reach out to those I disagreed with, and what happened as a result. Perhaps if it works for you, you can do the same.