In the aftermath of the Renee Good murder, it’s become brutally clear that millions of people are no longer just disagreeing on policy opinions or even values, they’re disagreeing on what happened. The same video, the same evidence, is producing completely opposite realities.
In this video, I unpack:
- How this “split reality” shows up in the reactions to state violence
- Why authoritarian temperament and low tolerance for ambiguity make pluralistic democracy feel unbearable for a solid minority
- The paradox of tolerance: how do you sustain a free society with people who fundamentally reject pluralism?
- And why, even in all of this, compassion for the people trapped in authoritarian projects is strategically and ethically necessary
This is meant to be both a response to the current moment and an evergreen framework: cognitive handles for understanding why our realities are diverging, why that divergence is so dangerous, and what any “after” will have to reckon with.
Let me know in the comments: where do you draw the line between tolerating opposing views and protecting a pluralistic society from people who want to end it?