It feels like we may have passed the point where we had any chance of understanding each other.
Posted on 03/29/2023 7:39:39 AM PDT by shadowlands1960
Seán Ono Lennon
@seanonolennon
The most useful tool I have ever learned for debating/arguing w someone is to try and internalize their argument to the extent that you could convincingly make it yourself, before you go about trying to convince them of yours.
The interesting thing about this technique is that you don’t have to agree with the other person to reach a state of mutual understanding and agreeability.
It’s not easy to do in practice, but when when this method was explained to me it really helped my relationships both personal and professional.
It feels like we are crossing a line in our relationships with each other in this country. It feels like we may have passed the point where we had any chance of understanding each other.
It is possible to respect an argument you do not ultimately agree with. But to do that you have to respect the person. We have to respect each other, but it’s almost like we have forgotten how.
Americans are like family members who have been fighting for years but have recently crossed a line from which their may be no turning back. I’m not sure it is realistic to remain a nation if we’re going to continue being this divided.
Our only chance is empathy and understanding.
There are bad people, of course I believe that. There are also insane people. And worst of all there are insane bad people. But they do not represent any majority.
Most people do not abide by nor are representative of extreme or radical ideas or ideologies. We should presume good faith, and try to understand the best version of an opposing argument before pigeon holing people into hyperbolic caricatures or cartoon characters.
Most people have reasons to believe what they believe. Even if those beliefs are wrong it would do us a lot of good to try and see how they came to those views.
None of us really know anything. Even Einstein thought the Universe was ultimately mysterious.
I’m just saying I think we can all try harder to listen to those Americans we don’t fully understand.
It may be the only way to turn this ship around.
(Conversation at link)
We can.
They won’t....
I guess that’s how we know who the true totalitarians are, those who will not ‘listen’
"Imagine there's no lefties!"
The disaster is being caused by the socialists, the woke, the perverts and the depraved.
Not by those pushing back at long last.
Even his dad was starting to come around when he was killed.
He seems like a reasonable guy. It’s a shame that his father played a major role in bringing about the collapse of society.
Oh sure. Tolerance of schizophrenics be they transgenders or other perverted lunatics and allowing them to roam free among decent ,rational people and children always seems to work out so well.
Imagine there’s no violence.
The magic word is "respect"...and that has to be earned.
Performing strip shows in front of children, stealing expensive luggage from the airport carousels and flaunting it on social media, generally acting like freaks for all to see...that isn't going to earn any respect.
Of course, I’m biased but the Conservative side is way ahead on this one. Because of the Media and the Entertainment fields, we all know the Liberal arguments and can repeat them back to the other side. Homosexuals deserve to find love, Transgenders are born that way, Abortion is just removing a clump of cells, guns kill people.
But does the Left know our principles? Can they make any attempt to argue our positions? Why “explain the appeal” of Donald Trump?? That guy is a Nazi. Pro-Life?? Those guys just want to enslave women. Second Amendment?? Useful for violent Christians who want to hunt down black Americans, I guess ...
No. The Left has no understanding of our side. They have no interest in that because they know they’re right about everything.
He addresses ‘evil people’ - argues they are actually rare...
Oh sure. Tolerance of schizophrenics be they transgenders or other perverted lunatics and allowing them to roam free among decent ,rational people and children always seems to work out so well.
Oh, no!
Seems to have more of John than Yoko in him.
Let’s give war a chance.................
lol
No understanding is possible until the day they renounce collectivism.
Understanding leads to accommodation.
The right has accommodated the left’s demands continually for the past 50 years.
The left utterly refuses to return the favor.
“What can you do, thought Winston, against the lunatic who is more intelligent than yourself, who gives your arguments a fair hearing and then simply persists in his lunacy?”
― George Orwell, 1984
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