I do believe that people should be polite, and I make no apologies for it.

By “being polite”, I don’t mean following a bunch of etiquette rules - which is neurotypicalistic, to say the least. Rather, I mean try to consider the feelings of others before you speak or type.

If we’re gonna teach our preschool and primary school kids the importance of being polite towards one another, there is no reason why being polite to others should be a rule only for kids. I don’t doubt that even Trump supporters who are parents typically teach their children to be polite to others (except for possibly “liberals”, in which case you can be as rude to them as you want).

The thing is, I believe that even we as adults ought to be polite to one another - especially if we wanna set a good example for our children. Although, even if there are no children present, being polite should still be values.

Just because politicians and pundits (liberals, conservatives, and those in-between are all guilty) feel the need to constantly demonize their political opponents and shun politeness, that doesn’t mean we need to do the same. We ought to be better than that. We aren’t gonna get anywhere, if we’re constantly at each other’s throats - and don’t have empathy for others.

Yes, I myself can be rude at times. I myself sometimes snap, and say things I shouldn’t say. However, instead of acting as if I was justified in being rude - I apologize for it. If you slip up, you should apologize.

Also, I’m not gonna say you should be polite to those who were assholes to you first - or those who are well-known to be an all-around asshole (e.g. Donald Trump). There’s a difference between finding someone’s behaviour to be annoying versus finding someone to be an asshole. More often than not, people who engage in annoying behaviours might not realize that they’re being annoying. However, people who are assholes generally know that they are assholes - and may even show pride in it.

Here is a good litmus test to determine if someone is an asshole or not: Does this person seem to show pride in being an asshole? If yes, then this person is definitely an asshole. Otherwise, you should follow the Wikipedia code - and “assume good faith”.

TL;DR: "Being polite" should not be a rule only for children. Adults should live by that, too.