Why have political conversations been reduced to namecalling?

Question

If you find out new information that causes you to change your mind, you are a flip flopper. If you question whether we should be at war, you are a traitor. How does all this help? How can a conversation go on with someone who throws these insults when you actually want to have a reasonable discussion?

Answer 1

It is the only way they know how to debate now. If you name call a certain person effort the that persons creditability goes down. If you knock effort people down then the people they serve will start to see this person as weak and unable to fight for them.

Answer 2

Not only name calling, but pre-emptive name calling as well.  For example:

“All they do is call me a traitor and unpatriotic because I disagree with the war. “

“Uh… no one has called you either, except you.”

A conversation can go on with insults being thrown, but it won’t be very productive.  Part of the problem is agreeing on “facts” to base the conversation on.

Answer 3

The point of most people "interested" in politics isn't to have reasonable discussions. They are more akin to sports fanatics, and thier point is to exalt thier chosen team, while degrading the other team. History has shown that dishonest tactics (including namecalling) are effective at swaying peoples opinions, so of course those are the tactics they will employ.

Answer 4

Because many people feel powerless and have a lot of repressed anger. Also the format of cable news programs prevent any kind of thoughtful debate because anyone thoughtful will be shouted down and "lose". Because your team "winning" is more important than anything else.

Answer 5

Those who throw out nothing but insults are incapable of debating a topic. On the other hand I have seen any number of "push poll" questions posed here which contain insults about the political figure who is the subject of the question they are asking.

The only solace I can provide is what I saw on a bumper sticker years ago:

"Above average people talk about ideas. Average people talk about things. Below average people talk about other people".