Get Past the Slogans

I rarely watch television, but yesterday I turned on MSNBC. It told me little I didn’t already know, so I switched to Fox News. That was more revealing—not because I learned what Democrats believe, but because I better understood why some Republicans have such distorted ideas about them.

Three messages kept repeating: Democrats want communism, boys in girls’ sports, and higher taxes.

Each slogan substitutes sinister motives for a real policy debate. We can disagree about government’s role without calling public services “communism.” We can discuss fairness in girls’ sports without reducing complicated questions about transgender people to an inflammatory catchphrase. And we can debate taxes by asking: Higher taxes on whom? For what purpose? What benefits and tradeoffs follow?

Those questions encourage discussion. Slogans encourage resentment.

Understanding an opposing view means describing it in terms its supporters would recognize, then challenging its assumptions or consequences. Caricaturing the other side is easier, but it leaves audiences less informed and more hostile.

I do not expect Fox News—or MSNBC—to endorse every position it covers. But I do expect commentators to distinguish between explaining an argument and ridiculing it.

After watching Fox, I understood some Republican reactions better. If I believed Democrats wanted to impose communism, undermine girls’ sports, and raise everyone’s taxes simply for the sake of it, I would be angry too.

But anger at a caricature is not understanding. A country that cannot tell the difference will have a hard time solving its problems