I'm not saying people can't change, because they can. It takes a hell of a lot of work, but they can. But people who willingly choose to live in ignorance, who willingly choose to ignore facts, who willingly choose to live with misinformation... Those people don't want to change. And they won't, no matter what you do. That's why we have men in their 80s who still can't accept a woman as an authority figure. In their perfect bubble world, no such thing is possible. And, until circumstances occur that forcefully rip them from their bubble and pop it in front of them, they will never accept alternatives as even being possible.
You were willing to educate yourself on a topic. You heard out the opposition. You analyzed your own ideals and adjusted your opinions to align with the facts presented to you. And I commend you for that. You dragged yourself out of the pit of ignorance. Most people are not willing to acknowledge that they might be wrong. Their egos won't let them. Or, worse, they recognize that they are wrong but still refuse to adapt because of [insert reasons here.] And when you fight against that mentality repeatedly for extended amounts of time, it wears you down and tempers start to flare.
I agree that the "UvT" mentality is the ultimate source of the Dem vs Rep bitchfest known as the American government. It needs to be weeded out if the country is ever going to change. We are not the United States of America anymore; we are the Republican vs Democratic States of America.Its the "Us or Them" attitude. YOU are not my enemy if you wish to see stricter controls on guns. I am not YOUR enemy because I believe in full legalization of drugs. We just have different ideas is all.
The entire government needs a system reboot, but that will never happen as long as everyone is taking sides.