Can moderation trump hatred?

I was in Florida last week, working with a client. On the way back to the airport in Fort Lauderdale we drove past a couple of people with large placards standing on the coast road, waving to people in their cars. Their placards said ‘Hillary should go to jail’ and ‘Vote for Trump’, and some motorists were tooting their horns in support.

Today the FBI has said that they have found no further evidence of wrongdoing over the recent email investigation. But what struck me as we drove towards the airport was how the people with the placards were keen to believe the rhetoric about Hillary rather than wait to hear the facts. As we see increasing levels of polarisation and condemnation creep into our politics we are losing something essential to democracy and freedom – the desire to be fair, to include others rather than exclude them, the balance of views that rejects religious or political extremism. I hope tomorrow that the US election results demonstrate success for moderation over hatred. 

I'm interested in what you think. If you’d like to share your views, please tweet @SimonJHayward #moderationrocks