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In reply to the discussion: What I've learned about conservatives in the last few months [View all]Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)If only I would sit down and talk with conservatives, I would learn that they're no different from me! That they are actually perfectly reasonable people, and it's just ME being mean and irrational! Golly! Why, if I just tried to understand them and see where they're coming from, I'd see they're great people with strong ethical foundations and perfectly reasonable stances!
Ahem.
There's this guy at work. I have no idea of his political affiliations. Not too long ago a few of us were in the break room talking about a co-worker who had gotten fired for what most of us feel were BS reasons. We're talking, and this guy chimes in with "Yeah but she was cute. Man, I would have raped that ass ALL day."
Do you think we stopped what we were doing to give this guy some sensitivity training? Take time out to explain to him why what he said was wrong? Or maybe search our souls for some way to 'understand where he was coming from'? No. Someone else looked at him, said "dude, shut the fuck up," and we went on with what we were doing, choosing to not engage the jackass beyond that point. He's simply a lost cause. There's not going to be any real hope of "reforming" him into someone who has tolerable opinions of women. The effort could be made, but it'd never sink in, making it a waste of time on the part of whoever's trying. "Shut the fuck up, dude" covers all the ground that needs to be covered with him.
That's how I'm seeing conservatives at this point. There was a time when I would have wrung my hands and tried to 'find the good' in them, some common ground that would enable us to have a dialog and reach some useful positions together. I've tried. And tried, and tried, and tried. I used to think that gosh, if only I presented them with facts and figures and history and reason and logic, they would understand that some of their positions are wrong. Even after i got all crotchety and bitter about it, I thought well at least they have some goals that could be discussed.
Experience has triumphed over idealism in this case. It's not that they are sub-human monsters. It's that they are sociopaths and sadists who aren't going to be reformed by the rest of us trying to talk nicely to them. Better to just tell them to shut the fuck up, dude, and walk around them.