If we're going to turn back the tide of political violence, it's going to take all of us. Fortunately, there are simple steps any of us can take to start pushing against the acceptance and use of violence to achieve political goals.

Today's episode of Politics with Paul covers some of the reasons why people feel justified in using or supporting political violence. If we are going to fix this problem, we need to know why it occurs in the first place. At the end, I give actionable ways that we can fix the political climate and highlight some of the groups working to build bridges.

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(0:00 ) Intro: Political Violence and What You Can Do About it
(2:43 ) Some Reasons Why People Feel Political Violence is Justified
(3:08 ) Reason #1: Sense of Moral Superiority
(5:21 ) Reason #2: Seeing Politics as an Existential Crisis
(6:22 ) Reason #3: Not Feeling Heard, Feeling Rights Being Taken Away
(7:57 ) Reason #4: Higher Usage of Social Media
(10:08 ) Reason #5: High Level of Affective Polarization
(12:12 ) Reason #6: Distrust of Political Institutions, Deeming Them Illegitimate
(15:15 ) Reason #7: Disinformation/Misinformation About the "Other Side"
(17:18 ) Some Ways We Can Lessen Political Violence and its Acceptance
(17:47 ) Way #1: More Self-Awareness From Everybody
(20:00 ) Way #2: Improved Civics Education
(23:48 ) Way #3: Distinctly Acknowledge Each Other's Humanity
(28:50 ) Way #4: Don't be Apathetic or Tune Out of Politics
(31:40 ) Way #5: Responsible Social Media Usage
(33:34 ) Way #6: Don't Focus Only on One Side's Violence
(37:33 ) Way #7: Clearly Support Pluralism and Democracy
(41:35 ) Way #8: Recognize that Calls for Violence are NOT the Norm
(43:11 ) Progress Starts With All of Us
(53:20 ) Civics Groups That are Making a Difference
(56:23 ) Closing