So do you think of these people as your enemies? I’ve seen some posters here advocated re-education, prison, or execution for Liberals. I live in NJ and think that such a solution is unworkable, first of all. What do you think the solution to the increasing “Us v Them” debate is?
Did you ever talk politics with the first woman again? And did you ask her why *she* believed what she did, or was it all just you showing her the light while she listened? (In that case, I would argue that you didn’t convince her so much as she just kept her mouth shut.)
Oh gosh no. These people I do not view as my “enemies”.
There would clearly be some cognitive dissonance occuring if that were the case, since I stated clearly that these were people that I liked and respected.
You and I live in the “hated” Northeast. We have to figure something out before the really motivated Freepers decide we are guilty by assciation and we end up on the wrong side due to geography...:)
Here is my approach to dealing with liberalism without losing my grip. I view liberalism as the enemy, not ALL the adherents to it as a rule, because not all of them ARE aherents to liberalism. They just don’t know history and haven’t thought it through. (Note: Category 1 and Category 3 below are “adherents” in my opinion.)
As for the woman in the anecdote, I didn’t say I got through to her. The point was, she listened, really listened, which gives me some hope. (and I told her this) She isn’t an example of someone I “got through to”. She is an example of the best of category 2 listed below.
I abhor Liberalism because I view it as the greatest threat to our country. But I don’t view ALL liberals in the same light.
Perhaps it will help if I explain how I classify liberals (because I DO categorize them...they are not all “the same” to me)
1.) Hard Core Leftists: These people understand the effects of liberalism, but they are interested in their ideology, the redistribution of wealth, equality of outcomes, diversity, gender neutrality, citizens of the world, etc. etc. etc. This encompasses devoted members of organizations such as ANSWER, Code Pink, MoveOn.org, and so on, in addition to activists on the Left of many stripes. I detest and despise these people.
2.) Caring and Sensitive Liberals: These are people who, for the most part, genuinely care. They generally aren’t ideologically driven. They see and feel suffering and feel compelled to help in some way. They are the targets of the liberal politicians, because they can be swayed by emotion and single stage thinking. For example, they often don’t have a problem with the concept of welfare, because they cannot imagine what could be wrong with helping out someone who doesn’t have enough money to buy clothes and food by giving them money. A lot of them subscribe to the concept that if someone has done evil, it wasn’t their fault because society let them down, they had a bad childhood, they don’t have enough money or whatever. They are big into “root causes”, because people aren’t evil, they are made evil by circumstances. If we address that by rehabilitating them, giving them money, or a better place to live, they will be productive citizens. This accounts for the majority of liberals that I know. I often feel anger for their stands on certain issues, and when I don’t, I sometimes feel frustrated by simply observing them. I recognize that these people may be as great a danger to our republic as the Hard Core Leftists due to their numbers and support of politicians that have and are damaging our country. But I don’t think many of these folks are beyond redemption. I view many of them as intelligent, thoughtful people who would think differently if they were forced by either circumstance or simple introspection to honestly re-examine their views in a new light and think things through. I have many people I know, love and respect who fall into this category. I don’t hate or dislike these people.
3.) Dumb-Ass Liberals: These are the people who will pull the lever for a Democrat no matter what. They don’t think about the issues. They don’t consider the consequences. They couldn’t tell you at any time who their representatives are and couldn’t even guess at the three branches of our government. But they will faithfully vote Democrat because the candidate is the right party/color/race/gender and has a “D” after their name. They go into the voting booth and put marks on one side of the ballot without knowing or caring who the candidates are or what they stand for. I have a contempt and distaste for this stripe of Liberal.