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Love Your Enemies
Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt | Arthur C. Brooks
3 posts | 3 read | 3 to read
To get ahead today, you have to be a jerk, right? Divisive politicians. Screaming heads on television. Angry campus activists. Twitter trolls. Today in America, there is an outrage industrial complex that prospers by setting American against American. Meanwhile, one in six Americans have stopped talking to close friends and family members over politics. Millions are organizing their social lives and curating their news and information to avoid hearing viewpoints differing from their own. Ideological polarization is at higher levels than at any time since the Civil War. America has developed a culture of contempta habit of seeing people who disagree with us not as merely incorrect or misguided, but as worthless. Maybe you dislike itmore than nine out of ten Americans say they are tired of how divided we have become as a country. But hey, either you play along, or youll be left behind, right? Wrong. In Love Your Enemies, New York Times bestselling author and social scientist Arthur C. Brooks shows that treating others with contempt and out-outraging the other side is not a formula for lasting success. Blending cutting-edge behavioral research, ancient wisdom, and a decade of experience leading one of Americas top policy think tanks, Love Your Enemies offers a new way to lead based not on attacking others, but on bridging national divides and mending personal relationships. Brooks prescriptions are unconventional. To bring America together, he argues, we shouldnt try to agree more. There is no need for mushy moderation, because disagreement is the secret to excellence. Civility and tolerance shouldnt be our goals, because they are hopelessly low standards. And our feelings toward our foes are irrelevant; what matters is how we choose to act. Love Your Enemies is not just a guide to being a better person. It offers a clear strategy for victory for a new generation of leaders. It is a rallying cry for people hoping for a new era of American progress. And most of all, it is a roadmap to arrive at the happiness that comes when we choose to love one another, despite our differences.
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Hooked_on_books
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Panpan

This book starts out SO strong, discussing our culture of contempt and why it is harmful to both society and individuals. But then it goes off the rails, discussing its subtopics in a myopic, white, male, hetero, conservative way that‘s presented as fact. A total missed opportunity to encourage people to discourse and disagree in a more effective way. #botmbacklist

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Aimeesue
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Brooks deals with the current "Culture of Contempt" and here points out why it's so destructive to boil people down to what we consider the "bad" things about them and see them only through that lens. It's dehumanising and the only people it benefits are politicians who use division to solidify their bases to stay in power. OBVIOUSLY, we condemn bad behavior and destructive language and racism,?

Aimeesue … but Brooks' point is that if we condemn the whole person on the basis of a single interaction online, we set them up to dig into that, set their heels, and determine that they were right in the first place. Human psychology is very defence based when targeted or attacked. We don't change because people attack or shame us. We change because someone taught us better. Kindly.Give people a reason to change, even though it often feels good to attack. (edited) 5y
Centique That‘s a good point that it actually benefits the politicians if we do that. I listened to a great podcast about arguing with the “Unpersuadables” and it ended on a similar note. 👍 5y
18 likes2 comments
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Hooked_on_books
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My #botm box has finally caught up with me! With forwarding postage due, 😠 which I‘m struggling to be zen about. Looking forward to these beauties!

Soubhiville Ooo, Miracle Creek sounds really good! Sorry they were delayed, but glad they‘re in your hands now! 5y
Hooked_on_books @Soubhiville That one was the no brainer to put in my box—it‘s been on my radar since Liberty posted about it months ago. I‘m excited to get to all of them! 5y
60 likes2 comments