US vs. THEM: The Mental Structure of Extremism

The Philosophy of Antagonism
With the rise in militant extremist ideology of the so-called Alt-Left and Alt-Right movements, I want to offer a different perspective to recontextualize the polarization among liberals and conservatives.
While on the surface it may seem as though movements such as white supremacy, black lives matter and antifa are opposing points-of-view, in fact, they are variations of the same alternative ideology: The radical mentality of US vs. THEM.
I am not attempting to make a false moral equivalency between the nazis and anti-racists as I do not believe that the latter is as widespread as the former. I am simply pointing out that both are the product of the same ‘alternative’ thinking patterns.
The first and foremost is narcissism and self-entitlement which becomes apparent upon listen to them speak for any extended length of time.
Basically, their internal thinking is “I’m not narcissist. I’m just better than everyone else and I expect to be treated that way.”
ALT Thinking Patterns
While many finer distinctions can be made in categorizing the disempowering pathologies and mental strategies of the ALT-Left and the ALT-Right, the basic cognitive patterns of extremism are as follows:
Over-Generalizing: Jumping to conclusion with little or no evidence.
All-Or-Nothing Thinking: Polarizing at extremes — Black-And-White Thinking (in some cases, literally). Either-Or thinking that posits options as two-valued choices.
Labeling: Name-calling the uses over-generalizations which allow one to dismiss something via the label, or to not make important distinctions, or that classifies a phenomenon in such a way that we do not engage in good reality-testing.
Blaming: Thinking in an accusatory style, transferring blame, guilt and responsibility for a problem to someone or something else.
Mind-Reading: Projecting thoughts, feelings, intuitions onto others without checking out one’s guesses with the person not granting others the right to have the last word about their thoughts, feelings, intentions, etc.
Prophesying: Projecting negative outcomes onto the future without seeing alternatives or possible ways to proactively intervene.
Emotionalizing: Using one’s emotions for filtering information. Assuming that your negative emotions necessarily reflect the way things really are: “I feel it, therefore it must be true.”
Catastrophizing or Minimization: Exaggerating the importance of things (such as your goof-up or someone else’s achievement), or inappropriately shrinking things until they appear tiny (your own desirable qualities or the other people’s imperfections). This is also called the “binocular trick.”
These thinking styles, coupled with the fact that the mind lacks the necessary internal mechanisms to objectively distinguish Truth from Falsehood form a kind of dark synergy that tends to become self-fulfilling and self-reinforcing.
Alternatives to the ALT
Now they we have specifically defined the mental pathologies that make up the Alt-x personality, let’s look at the positive alternative options of empowered, proactive thinking. They are:
Contextual Thinking: Inquire about the context of information and index it according to who, what, where, when and how.
Both-And Thinking: Reality-test to determine if a situation truly functions in an either/or way. If not, then process information in terms of a continuum.
Systemic Thinking: Reality-test to determine patterns of causality. Distinguish linear causation from the multifaceted nature of systemic causation.
Responsibility To/For Thinking: Access one’s ‘ability’ to respond, in what way, under what circumstances, etc. Distinguish between each person’s responsibility for (personal accountability) and to (personal relationships).
Outcome Thinking: Gather high quality information about the factors, causes, forces, trends, etc., that come together to create an event or phenomenon. Look at consequences for certain actions, etc.
Things To Keep In Mind
We cannot control people or make them change just because we, all of a sudden, have the bright idea of how we would like things to be for them. Rather, we can feel sorry for them, pray for them and always hold in mind a different way of looking at things.
Most importantly, we can each be a model of the type of behaviour and thinking we would want them to adopt. Remember, there is a big difference between hating hate and loving love.
A good example is the response given by Mother Theresa when she was asked to join/support the anti-war movement. She declined, says that “Anti-war is not the same thing as being Pro-Peace.”