u/PhilosophyPoet

I used to be very confident in my beliefs about pluralism and toleration. I consistently kept very mixed and balanced social connections. I made friendships with various people who are very right-wing, very left-wing, or somewhere in between. And I always found the good and humanity in all of them.

I firmly believed that exercising toleration in this regard was of incredible value, because I could listen to others’ perspectives and challenge my own beliefs. Even if I thought someone’s beliefs were wrong, I could be humble and empathetic, and try to influence them in a better direction whenever opportunity arises.

I am a socially progressive and left-leaning person , and recently I’ve been interacting with progressive and left-wing spaces online, and I’ve come across some rather harsh and divisive attitudes. Now I feel compulsively pressured into feeling guilty for having friends and family who I love who are not left-wing like I am.

It’s so exhausting. I have friends who are Conservative Christians, and friends who are Liberal Christians, and I’m being made to feel like I’m a bad person for associating with them, even though they have good hearts and Ive had really positive relations with them

I have really bad OCD, so it’s hard for me to trust my own judgement and convictions without anxiously doubting myself in everything. I’ve seen very moralizing attitudes from my fellow progressives and left-wingers, and because of that my brain is telling me to cut off all the people I love, and that they’re bad people even though I have a good relationship with them.

Is it wrong to be friends with people who spring from opposite ideologies than me?

The Stoics believed in prosocial actions and shared community. That we are all interconnected as part of one global human family, and so, to cause a rift with other humans is akin to separating a limb from the rest of the body.

How does this apply to political differences, especially in a time like ours, where political division and extremism seem to be increasing? We are becoming more and more polarized, and more radical too.

I personally have made friendships with various people who are very right-wing, very left-wing, or somewhere in between. And I have always found the good and humanity in all of them.

I firmly believe that exercising toleration in this regard is of incredible value, because I can listen to others’ perspectives and challenge my own beliefs. Even if I think someone’s beliefs are wrong, I can be humble and empathetic, and try to influence them in a better direction whenever opportunity arises.

Not everyone agrees with this, though. A couple examples:

I’ve heard various people argue, for example, that a Liberal or Progressive socializing with members of the MAGA movement is wrong, as it shows tolerance to people who are arguably advocating harm and oppression.

Similarly, I’ve heard Socialists say that Socialists should not date someone unless they are also a member of the Leftist movement, because otherwise they are showing tolerance to someone who advocates an oppressive capitalist system.

I don’t agree with either of these takes, but I understand the arguments behind them.

What is the Stoic perspective on this?

(I’ll preface this by saying that I’m sorry if come across as emotional or pessimistic. I’m having some really bad political burnout right now)

I feel like traditional Socialists, or at least the ones I’ve engaged with online, easily forget about our shared humanity. The principles of compassion and tolerance for all souls. And it bothers me.

I’m a moral realist. I believe in moral principles that govern the way we act and treat each other. I believe in compassion, shared humanity, the sanctity of life, and the dignity of every single human person.

I’ve been talking to a lot of Marxist-Leninists, and they are honestly too swift to look at these things as arbitrary. They are willing to look at individual life as disposable the moment that life becomes inconvenient to their plans for material society. They defend or deny the atrocities committed by historical and existing Authoritarian Socialist states.

And of course there is the tiring “us vs them” narrative. I’ve even seen some Tankies say that you shouldn’t date someone unless they are a committed Socialist/Communist - because if they aren’t, they will be an enemy of the revolution when the revolution arises. This kind of dehumanization of ordinary people, merely based on a difference in political thought, is absurd.

I love everyone. I love all my friends and family. I love all humans regardless of who they are or what they’ve done. Regardless of their class, their ideology, their politics. I love both good people and bad people.

And I do think there’s a lot of work we need to do, that this society and this world are broken in many ways, and we need to do all we can to make it better and cure it of injustice. But I am not willing to contradict my most valued principle of love. I will dehumanize no one, no matter how much I am told they deserve it or it is just. I don’t agree and I never will.

I am getting burned out from politics as a whole. I’m starting to feel like maybe I shouldn’t even focus on politics at all. It seems like, no matter where I plant myself on the political spectrum, I am always trading in one type of hate for another. From what I can tell, just about every political ideology (even the best ones) sows some kind of division, or functions on an “us vs them” narrative.

Is political thought just a means to polarize us? Perhaps I’d best just stay focused on philosophy and religion. That would be mentally healthier for me at least.

“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart—and through all human hearts”

\-Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

“Men are born for the sake of each other. So either teach or tolerate.” — Marcus Aurelius

It is my understanding that the high amounts of sugar, high amounts of fats, and artificial colours/flavours present in ultra-processed foods are bad for OCD.

My question is, how much is too much? With sugar and fats specifically? When I check the label (which I have a habit of doing, I like to keep healthy), what should I be looking for?