i am incapable of affiliating with most groups. therefore i can & will not judge or assess the motives of others for entering arguments when a come-together would be more agreeable for everyone involved. i do not understand most people's reasoning - or do they have any at all? the hunger for power is an alien need to me. give me the peace train any day.

This is a REALLY interesting book. I cite it often in conversations about ideology. He describes 6 themes of moral beliefs, and their evolutionary basis. So, for example, we identify things as morally wrong when we find them yucky (e.g. eating certain types of animals or for some people, gay sex) because a healthy sense of disgust protected our ancestors from becoming ill from spoiled food.
People also value loyalty to a group or team, fairness, and care for others. I don’t remember the other two...
Conservatives tend to value all of these about equally, while liberals tend to value care for others above everything else.
A good example is the whole kneeling for the anthem debate. Liberals tend to perceive this as standing up for people who are disadvantaged. Conservatives tend to perceive it as being disloyal to the “team” (America).

Great book! I recommend it highly. Explains a lot but reads like a sociology text book, just a warning.

My well is dry..... For everyone who chose hate over anything else, the toll is on you

"Why do people so readily assume the worst about the motives of their fellow citizens?"

Because experience tends to to teach everyone the hard lesson the hard way that most other people are a shower of bastards who will stab you in the back while smiling to your face.

Therefore the safest default position is to assume the worst until proven otherwise.

This is true across all cultures, because humans are inherently selfish, altruism appears as a genetic trait in time of crisis to preserve the species, but if it comes to saving the species or saving your personal genetic line, ME FIRST will always win out.

Humanity has relied on this social superiority to survive and prosper, the rich need masses of poor to support them, self interest not altruism supports them in this, King, president, leader, priest, all titles because humans have children to support them in their old age, love binds them for survival not for any noble motive, being the dominator or the dominated is a way to survive.
Hence class, or cast or "know your place!"
This genetic and social conditioning is why communism always fails, we are not genetically prepositioned for equality.
Either on a Macro or microcosmic level we need social inferiors first, superiors second and enemies third in order to make sense of life.

Blessed is the pessimist for he shall never be disappointed, and will probably live quite a bit longer.