How to Lose Friends and Alienate People

Newsmax ^ | Nov. 13, 2002 | David C. Stolinsky

[Chi-townChief]

bttt

[arly]

In my opinion Dr. Stolinsky's Loss is actually a win!.. Good ridden loser's!

[coramdeo]

Very insightful, a deep understanding of the true meaning of tolerance.

[VoiceOfBruck]

Arguing with dedicated liberals is probably the single most useless endeavor one could pursue.

[Jonathon Spectre]

A great article.

I don't even lament any acquaintances I lose because they hold liberal beliefs. I don't like to be friends with stupid people.

[Thebaddog]

I've been to the same party, but I couldn't even try to write such a good article as this.

[muawiyah]

It's the drugs - Liberals on drugs - a lifetime habit - total burnout of the frontal cortex.

[stubernx98]

I have similar friends, and am now in an email discussion with one who also is a Lawyer. One who was a Captain in Vietnam, and lost most of his Company, but who now wouldn't hurt a rattle snake. My partner is a Liberal in thinking too, though mostly votes republican.

I have done years of mangement testing, and have isolated the Liberal pattern. Very strong ego, usually the predominate trait, coupled with inattention to detail. This pattern finds it's way into all the places you find the soft sciences. You know Hollywood, Journalism, and Politics. In acedemia you find them in Political Science, Liberal Arts, and all the "verbal" subjects.

I have concluded that most Liberals(not all) have a defective gene. They are ruled by emotion, not rational thought(but you knew that). It's maddening dealing with them, but do not give up. A converted Liberal is like a converted smoker.

Use the Aristotelian(sp?)method to talk with them. Short simple questions that lead to obvious conclusions(like you did)and sometimes the light will go on. Most of the time they see where you are going and stop, and refuse to answer, the pain is to great.

[TheLion]

Strange that these people could have been friends in the first place....no great loss.

[Phantom Lord]

Arguing with dedicated liberals is probably the single most useless endeavor one could pursue.

I only do it with those I know well. Especially since when you know them very well, you can pull personal experiences and their personal situations into the arguments.

I did this to my aunt who is a big time looney lefty. She was complaining about the republicans wanting to get rid of the inheritance tax and that it was unfair and that the rich should pay. She doesnt not consider herself or her family "rich" but she does consider them to be "lucky" and "fortunate" as all liberals do.

Well, upon her demanding the GOP not repeal the death tax I asked her a simple question... "Aunt Chris, if you and uncle Bob died tomorrow in a car accident where would Teresa and Jessica (their daughters) get the $400,000 to pay the inheritance tax upon receiving your estate?"

She wondered why they would need to pay it, after all they are not "rich". And then I broke down her net worth for her (which i knew from financial dealings with them) and what the kids death tax bill would be. It made her look at it a lot different since it affected her and not just Bill Gates and his buddies.

An old girlfriend of mine is a democrat and liberal. Just prior to the election i sent her an email "Just for fun, why are you a democrat?" Her response was "Because I care about people and you seem to only care about money." I have yet to pen a response as I want to do it properly and not 'off the handle'.

But it will start out something like... "Your response to my questions is like all of the democrats agenda, ideas, and answers... empty, lacking thought, and symbolism over substance.'

[mamaduck]

What do you call such beliefs?

Cognitive Dissonance.

[Grammy]

Sort of reminds me of one of my basic philosophies.....
"Never teach a pig to sing,... it wastes your time and annoys the pig."

[Revolting cat!]

if you want to make the world a better place, try judging people by whether they treat other people with respect and kindness.

A great article!

[Revolting cat!]

I asked him whether "true Nazism" had been tried yet.

Outstanding! Make a note of this argument.

[PatrioticAmerican]

The Author's friends are dolts. As all liberals do, they lead their lives through fear and ignorance, not through knowledge and strength.

[galt-jw]

I think it's important we keep this in perspective.

These are individuals who espouse the destruction of personal liberty and freedom for the sake of some nebulous collective, at the fiat of the state.

They are not to be euphamistically written off as nice, yet misguided folk. They truly represent a horrific, socialist philosophy which seeks complete control of the individual.

The best one can do is to try to enlighten them.

[rogerthedodger]

it sounds strange, but the one good treatment i found of the psychological roots of liberalism came from the unibomber's manifesto. i haven't been able to find one elsewhere (equivalent to the "Authoritarian Personality" written about conservatives in the 50s). According to the manifesto, the roots lay in the deep-seated feelings of inferiority of the liberal, in addition to a lack of realistic thinking on cause/effect (as I recall--that second part could be off a little). I'd be interested in further scholarship. It kind of explains why many of my debates with liberals degenerate into someone (not me) getting hurt, mad, inflamed, etc., and why the liberal almost always sticks up for the weaker of two interests, even to the liberal's own detriment.

[ImaGraftedBranch]

It is sometimes VERY hard to do the right thing. I was tortured mentally today, because I found I could not equivocate on an issue with someone that is very close to me. I have to either do the right thing and please God, or "get along" and please the person.

I Love God.

[Woahhs]

I have done years of mangement testing, and have isolated the Liberal pattern. Very strong ego, usually the predominate trait, coupled with inattention to detail. This pattern finds it's way into all the places you find the soft sciences. You know Hollywood, Journalism, and Politics. In acedemia you find them in Political Science, Liberal Arts, and all the "verbal" subjects.

You need to expand on this in a post of your own...please ping me when you do.