I listened and then I asked them to give me a definition of what a settlement is.
They hadn’t ever thought about it. It hadn’t even crossed their minds, all they knew
was that they pictured settlers as being big and bad people.

The problem is that so many people don’t ever come into contact with people who disagree with
them. Heinlein said, “I never learned anything from someone who agrees with me”. I wouldn’t
go that far, there are very few absolutes, but it’s a good point.

If your core assumptions are never tested (“It’s all the Joooooos fault” in this instance),
then you can’t really debate or even understand the issue.

That’s much more prevalent on the left these days, but it’s hardly their property.

People like to belong, they also like to think they’re smart. So if you hang out with people
because you think they’re smart and you want them to think you’re smart, you aren’t going to
challenge them and you’re going to go along when they ridicule people who do challenge them.