Yes, I was re-reading my post after I posted it and realized that I probably came off far too harsh than I intended to. (I really try hard to match the harshness of my replies to the harshness of the one I’m replying to, but sometimes I overcompensate.) So thanks for reading the addendum before firing off a response.
You do have a point with what you’re saying; there’s a difference between fighting to win and fighting to win so hard that you lose in the end.
I believe that where we differ is that my optimal point of assery, if you will let me use the term, is different than yous. I’m a millennial and steeped in Internet culture. Out in the wilds of social media, you HAVE to be loud and obnoxious in order to get attention. That or lots of cute cat pictures. And Trump’s form of communication really speaks to that, especially with Twitter. It provokes, it gets the message across, and then it stops, usually leaving us eager to hunt for more with the sum total of human knowledge just a smartphone app away. It also gives us a sense of communication. Most of my friends and associates don’t watch much TV or news shows, but we chat and we text and we tweet. And Trump, who knows how to use social media, really comes across as of us, as opposed to the other politicians who tend to be really condescending on the social media.
I admit I don’t know which generation you are or what cultures or subcultures that you associate with, but I suspect that they’re different than mine.
As for why I’m voting for Trump despite his relatively recent conversion, it’s mostly because he’s shown that he can bypass the media and stomp the glitter out of PC and the establishment. The other candidates have not shown that they are able to do so. And if we can’t break the back of the establishment, any good that can be done in the next 4-8 years can easily be undone even faster.
To me it’s like if you’re falling out of a plane, and your choices are a pack that may or may not have a parachute in it, and a pack that definitely doesn’t have a parachute in it. To my mind, (using the opinions I’ve formed through my observations, because this is people and none of us are mind readers or seers,) there’s really only one rational choice.
You’re a good man Luircin.
Yes I’m older than you and I have a different response to Trump’s behavior and his late-game conversion, but I share your desire to see PC and the establishment laid low. I just prefer a return to Constitutional principles rather than the full Nietzschean Uberman blowout; I never expected Zarathustra to speak with a New York accent. Remember, the founding patriach of conservatism himself made his name by criticizing an anti-establishment revolution that got out of hand.
I really don’t get the entire social media thing but I recognize that it is immensely powerful, and influential in ways we don’t yet understand. I’m afraid that influence is largely negative but there’s a lot of generational bias in my perspective. Whether Trump has a fortuitous gift for using it, or he’s got it figured out on purpose, I certainly admit that he’s using it effectively.
Perhaps Trump is just the man for the time. But if so my natural bent for anachronism will become even more pronounced. Under no circumstances will I vote for a Democrat, but I live in TX so Trump as the Republican Presidential nominee wouldn’t miss my vote either way.
Did I notice in another post that you spend a lot of time preaching and teaching The Word, and visiting those who might need encouragement? I’m sometimes involved in the same kinds of ministry activities. You keep up the good work, and I promise I won’t despise your youth. (But now that I think of it, that great demolisher of his own PC establishment Paul didn’t take his first missionary journey until **years** after the Damascus road .......)