Posted on 02/07/2022 4:37:58 AM PST by Kaslin
Conversation is a meeting of minds with different memories and habits. When minds meet, they don't just exchange facts: they transform them, reshape them, draw different implications from them, engage in new trains of thought. Conversation doesn't just reshuffle the cards: it creates new cards. ~ Theodore Zeldin, Oxford scholar & author Good conversational debate is an end in itself, and talking for the love of conversation is what makes us human. ~ Bryce Courtenay, novelist One way to prevent conversation from being boring is to say the wrong thing. ~ Frank Sheed, Catholic apologist Conversation means being able to disagree and still continue the discussion. ~ Dwight Macdonald, leftist philosopher One good conversation can shift the direction of change forever. ~ Linda Lambert, author
Fascinating conversations are one of my favorite things in life. Grab a beer, sit down with smart people who have interesting takes on the issues of the day, and solve the world’s problems while the ballgame plays in the background. If all goes well, before you know it hours go by and it seems like minutes and you still don’t want it to end. (Although, if you’re in a restaurant your poor server probably does. Hint: always tip well!)
In such conversations - especially between friends - listening, not just speaking, is an art, and conflicts aren’t conflicts in any awkward, confrontational way, but merely opportunities for clarification, dialogue, and greater understanding. Words can get heated sometimes, and that’s fine. I want to talk to people who are passionate about what they believe, and unless you’re a crazed leftist whose delicate sentiments are disturbed by thoughts different from yours, you probably do too.
I certainly don’t know it all (though my wife sometimes insists I think I do), and neither does the family, friends, acquaintances, and co-workers in my life with whom I’ve had meaningful conversations over the years. But put our brains together, converse honestly and sincerely, leave it all on the table, and we’ll all come out knowing far more than we knew before. You’ll never agree on everything, but if you can find some common ground and even a bit more understanding about an issue than you had before you started, it was worth it, and then some.
The key to it all, of course, is truth. It’s what all of us are after, or it should be. If you aren’t seeking to find the truth on an issue, whatever that may be, what’s the point? What free person wants to believe even the most comfortable of lies? So good conversations by necessity aren’t about grandstanding, virtue-signaling, or playing politics. None of those things are about truth. That’s why you can usually find more workable solutions to the world’s ills in the corner of a bar than you can in the halls of Congress. Indeed, we need MORE, not fewer conversations these days.
But that’s not what’s happening, and we all know it. The partisan divide is wider than ever, and the political right is increasingly frightened of unwittingly stepping across any of the countless imaginary PC red lines they’ve drawn for us for the express purpose of pouncing when we do. It’s a war on truth, on reality, and we’re playing by their rules. The left, of course, hates the truth, because by definition it runs contrary to everything they want to think about how the world works. Tell the truth openly enough and people might start believing it and stop believing THEM, they fear. Thus, their primary response is to suppress the expression of truth by any means necessary. And since good conversations tend more often than not to bring the truth to light, they must be suppressed as well.
This speaks to the heart of the political left’s censorship of opposing views and touchy conversations on Big Tech platforms like Twitter and Facebook, as well as their stringent opposition to podcasting giant Joe Rogan. As a fan of conversations, I thoroughly enjoy listening to Rogan’s podcast on the lawnmower or an hours-long road trip, getting lost in the meandering exchanges between him and his guest. They expand my mind, keep me engaged, and make long trips or household chores absolutely fly by. They also make me test my beliefs and think about the world in a different way, which is always a good thing. The left obviously knows this, which is why, obviously, Rogan has to go.
It isn’t that Rogan is himself a purveyor of beliefs they disagree with or hate. He is, after all, a Bernie Sanders voter. He just happens to have an open mind and enjoys talking to people, even those with whom he might disagree. Except, to today’s leftists, even daring to speak to people on the ‘wrong’ side of an issue is verboten. They believe their ideological opponents must be silenced, not challenged directly based on facts (what facts?) and certainly not listened to. So by extension, Rogan himself is now verboten because he provides a platform, through conversation, for people they disagree with and hate.
And so our leftist would-be overlords have now embarked on a massive psyops campaign to deplatform Rogan, spearheaded by a trickle of has-been artists removing themselves from Spotify in ‘protest’ and amped up by the weekend release of a compilation of years-old instances where he simply used the n-word in dialogue with guests. Now, I’m not going to self-righteously tell you what you should think about that, except to say that none of the utterances were used in what rational people would consider a racist way and Rogan himself has apologized (yeah, never, ever apologize) and insisted he hasn’t used the magical syllables in years and will never utter them again.
Obviously, none of these deplatforming calls have anything to do with any sort of alleged ‘racism’ from Rogan, who is absolutely not a racist in any meaningful, real sense. No, they have to do with silencing an open-minded man who is willing to have conversations with people who disagree with the left’s twisted worldview, conversations that millions upon millions of people listen to every week and could potentially have a dynamic impact on the culture.
They also have to do with silencing all of us. That’s because to the left, the conversation is over. When you have the answers for everything, why discuss it further, right? There’s no need for people like Joe Rogan or for petty, bourgeoisie notions like free speech. All that just gets in the way of crafting the hellscape they want us all to live in, where everyone contributes according to their ‘ability,’ receives based on their ‘need,’ and a good conversation can get you sent to the gulag.
He’s no darling of the right either.
bfl
Well it’s simple. Where ever there is a forum for an opposing point of view of what the lefts media driven narrative is…. You will find leftist outrage. When that outlet has been assumed to be on their “side” over the years , the rage increases exponentially.
Censorship is the progressive's only path to victory in a debate.
Conversation requires differing points of view but Leftists know that there is only ONE point of view but myriad examples of mis- and disinformation..
Do you choose the red pill, or the blue pill?
Neither choice is positive. Both these pills are a false choice. The blue pill keeps you enslaved to The System. The red pill condemns you to a life of suffering where your good deeds are rendered impotent because of the structure of The System, constantly running, and facing sudden confrontations at every moment when victory or escape appear possible.
Joe Rogan is Neo, and he seems to have chosen the red pill.
yeah, i am not sure why people don’t call this what it is,, the left is eating their own. I love people, regardless of political ideas in their heads, all of our experiences make up our knowledge and we mostly all have different knowledge of what is really going on right now. I have listened to Joe before, but he was from the left, the difference between Joes left and the left’s left, is that Joe seeks the truth. The current left has been brainwashed to believe what they are told is the truth, their faith was taken and put into the class that rules them now, religion was made into a bad word, even though it was our freedom to have our own, they denied it and now they are stuck inside the religion that took the place of their own, which they were made to deny by basically making fun of everyone else’s until they hadn’t realized their own religion is the only religion that matters. (religion is only why we do what we do, and that is supposed to be our freedom, we should give thanks for that and enjoy it)
Homeschoolers are a prime example of the societal downside of red pilling. It is a tough path to travel...often you're questioned like you're a war criminal over your choice by family members, society calls you names, you have to finance it all yourself, friends distance themselves, your kids may not get to go to the prom, and there is paperwork and threats at times.
But homeschooling parents KNOW, there is no choice in the matter. Not to get too deep into it, it's akin to the passage in John, where Jesus says But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life(emphasis added).
As Diana puts it regarding the path of the redpilled, you need a robust post-apocalyptic skill set to get through it all. THIS is where the freshly-redpilled have trouble...one does not simply download this skill set, or grow thick skin for the approaching hate-fest.
This is why they're after Rogan. He's redpilling millions of people under 40. These "younger" Americans will soon face that same non-choice choice homeschooling parents face, and that Peter faced...live in truth or live a lie. We need to be prepared to help these folks, because it isn't easy. But there isn't an alternative.
The left is winning on this. They are creating a veil of silence that people are afraid to remove.
And the GOP’s silence is deafening. There’s no one to fight back…
The Matrix was an awful film and the use of the word “red pill” should be retired.
I listened to him for 10-15mins once, and didn’t like his anti-Trump stance and other comments.
Rogan’s interviews with Drs Malone and McCullough were well worth the time listening to.
I tried some of his other podcasts and they bored me to tears.
And yes, he is no Trump supporter and considers the election honest and anyone who thinks it was stolen is a kook and conspiracy theorist.
That really turned me off to him.
The Left may “hate” this person or that person but what we’re really looking at everybody’s slavish devotion to celebrities and fame. You (using the editorial “you” here, nothing personal against anybody here) look with suspicion at someone who’s NOT chasing fame and fortune, even though that person could be your closest ally in the struggle to preserve our Constitutional Republic, but fawn all over someone who has a name, even if that person is as far from being a sympathizer, friend, or ally as s/he could possibly be!
And I dunno, maybe some of this is personal - I’ve experienced self-proclaimed “conservatives” and “Christians” dumping all over me, doxxing me, stalking me, denouncing me from the airwaves or their podcasts, and basically acting worse than the biggest lefttard out there - when I never challenge them, diss them, ridicule them, point out their mistakes, or anything like it, and I’ve even had so-called conservatives ATTACK me for making A SINGLE POSITIVE COMMENT about something they wrote, or their show, or whatever. “Oh, so you liked my show? My comments and info and opinions, you liked that? WELL SCREW YOU, YOU RACIST!!!” (This is, as noted above, a response to me saying something like “Hey, great show! I’ve been listening to your show and me and Mr K really like it! I’m really learning a lot!” - and then I learn that someone I like and appreciate already knows who I am and moreover considers me an enemy.)
I don’t think Mr Rogan deserves to be attacked, by the way. If he has to make major lifestyle changes because of all the hate, if he loses income, if he has to deal with loss of friends, etc, I sympathize with him. I just don’t like the idea of “conservatives” kissing his hiney because he did or said ONE THING that they agree with.
Celebrities will never help you and you would be surprised at how little even the most supposed Gd-fearing conservative celebrity cares for you. They will take an opportunity for more publicity if you’ve got a really heart-rending tale and they’ll be nice to you then, maybe!
What we are observing in this attack on Rogan is, actually, the final stages of a particular manifestation of Mass Formation Psychosis that has gripped the nation under COVID. This is the stage where the sufferers themselves begin to attack one another. Whoopie, Zucker, Cuomo & Cuomo. . .Rogan. Sit back and enjoy as the Leftists eat each other!
Joe despises Trump so much, he even said he had no interest in interviewing him.
The left can't have anybody questioning their narrative. The scamdemic has been falling apart for some time now and they don't want to be left holding the bag. They want to be able to say, see our plans worked when they obviously didn't.
“Rogan’s interviews with Drs Malone and McCullough were well worth the time listening to.”
I did d/ld both of those 3hr shows, and will listen to them this week.
Have you read this “Spartacus Letter”?
https://www.theautomaticearth.com/2021/09/spartacus/
Thanks for posting the Spartacus. It aged well...
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