Generalizations are Harmful

I personally have made this mistake hundreds of times and made callous generalizations. Most individuals and the media are guilty of making harmful generalizations on a daily basis. And it is one of the main reasons why we are a society that is so divided between political ideologies. Generalizations lead to the development of stereotypes, prejudices, and even racism. For instance, the liberal media’s attempt to categorically paint all Tea Party members as racists is simply wrong. On the other hand, when conservatives paint all liberals as government loving communists is also just as wrong. And if that is not bad enough, both conservatives and liberals, paint independents and moderates as individuals incapable of thinking and drawing conclusions for themselves is just as harmful.

Yes, as I have pointed out time and time again, there is a small faction of people weather it be liberals, tea party members, or independents that take their thoughts or beliefs to the extreme. So sure, there are going to be Tea Party member that are racists, liberals who are true communists, and ignorant independents. But the number of people falling into these categories is small, less than 10%. Thus, it does not make any sense to classify large groups of people with generalizations that will only work to create and build more barriers to polarize Americans.

Are all National Rifle Association (NRA) members gun crazed anarchists? No, most are responsible gun owners. Are all People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) members loons who want to eliminate hunting and fishing? No, most are reasonable and only want to protect endangered species and protect animals from cruelty. Are all environmentalists anti corporation zealots who want to tax carbon emissions? No, most are reasonable citizens who want to protect environment from pollution by moving to clean energy, but not at the expense of destroying the corporations they rely on. The same can be said for global warming activists, yes, many may be misguided, but what is wrong with pushing a clean energy platform.

No, most people are reasonable and therefore, the characterization of groups of people as radical extremists is often misguided and wrong. The reason for this extreme behavior is because the most listened to and watched pundits are polarizing figures. Hannity, Beck, Olbermann, Maddow, Matthews, Limbaugh, and other political pundits continually make stereotypical comments when attacking adversaries. They are all smug, condescending, and arrogant individuals with massive egos. The only accomplishment made by these figures is the creation of more barriers. The days of William Buckley conducting respectful political debates are far behind us. Mike Huckabee is one of only a few modern examples of a respectful debater.

The real reason why generalizations and stereotyping individuals into broad categories is dangerous is because it promotes bigotry and racism and makes us all hypocrites. For instance, the labeling of any Southern NRA members as rednecks is a racist statement. Another example is the philosophical generalizations of Keith Olbermann, which go beyond human logic. He insists he is not a racist who fights for the rights of minorities, but he has the nerve to classify anyone who disagrees with Obama as a racist. In other words, he is classifying over half of all Americans as racists, well isn’t that a racist remark? Yes, it is, because he is labeling a group of people as something they are not. This is form of prejudice, bigotry, or racism no matter how you break it down. And how on earth is this helping to unite Americans to solve our national issues? It is not; it is only making us more frustrated, annoyed, and angry, and therefore, more polarized.