I love America. It's Americans I hate.

Reflections on trying to reconcile my anti-Trump convictions with the actual human beings — family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors — who voted for this man

You must be able to tolerate your neighbor.
(Image credit: REUTERS/Jonathan Alcorn)

For years, my friend Jenny Boylan and I have had a recurring conversation about the purpose and value of our work. Jenny, an LGBTetc activist, has always been a buoyant believer in the power of language to overcome ignorance, misconception, and prejudice. She says: "It is impossible to hate anyone whose story you know." She engages with the public through public speaking, TV, and social media. I, a polemical cartoonist, would laugh in her face at her sweet naiveté. The public is a swarm of hostile morons, I told her. You don't need to make them understand you; you just need to defeat them, or wait for them die.

The 2016 election gave us both occasion to second-guess our positions.

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Tim Kreider

Tim Kreider is an essayist and cartoonist. He divides his time between New York City and an Undisclosed Location on Maryland's Chesapeake Bay. His latest collection of essays is We Learn Nothing.