Ed,

Thanks for your kind words. Your reply deserves accolades for thoughtful points as well. You’ve pinpointed a number of legit’ & underlying differences that are playing a big role in our current partisan conflicts.

While it’s perfectly understandable that most voters do not have the opportunity (and in some cases, the capability) to consider contrasting views on their own, that lack of genuine understanding about the political and cultural differences which sustain our partisan conflicts is a critical impediment to resolving at least some of the pressing conflicts. (Ideas about this are being fleshed out for one of my next couple of articles)

Tribalism is a handy short-cut for making decisions without a solid understanding of both perspectives and consequences. It can also be a costly short-cut. A LOT of decisions and support are based on a “what he/she/they said” without an appreciation for the motivations of designated but unofficial proxies. Fox News et al being Exhibit A of the downsides