General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: What I've learned about conservatives in the last few months [View all]NRaleighLiberal
(60,015 posts)I am a blue dot surrounded by red. I do interact a bit with my neighbors - in fact, one household seems pretty sincere and nice - and to me they are an example of the occasional exception to the rule, so to speak. These are people that are not that churchy, they raised two nice kids, they are both professionals, and although they know how left wing my wife and I are, we actually avoid politics most of the time.
But what they are: racist (they really don't like people who look different than they do), and they are afraid - though I am sure they don't know what they are afraid of. They are also brainwashed, as it is all Fox, all the time for them.
So I can't condemn them all....but I can condemn lots of them. Our liberal/progressive approach does indeed default to trying to make rational sense of what we see. But our blind spot is accepting pure badness, hatred, malevolence - and we continue to do so at our peril.
Was pondering some more and need to add this - there is a weirdness in a particular aspect of some of them - that they would rather everyone worthy suffers than one person appearing to game the system (this is in regard to fiscal/social things) - and I think it is projection on their part - that they would certainly game the system if they needed to, so of course, many people getting food stamps, unemployment, etc must be lying or cheating. This is likely also related to their inherent bigotry. But it all, to me, comes down to fear.
And as a friend and I agreed, for a bunch of people who are convinced that they are "saved", they sure do get scared shitless by just about everything.
Yesterday I went out on an errand. My truck is pretty festooned with liberal bumper stickers - Obama stickers, Turn Off Fox, DU, etc - this fellow in an old car went by me, then slowed down and got in back of me, then passed me - looked at me and shook his head and frowned. I looked over at him with a big smile and just started laughing my ass off at him - my intent was to infer he was just a fool. He sped angrily past me. (I know....he could have just as well taken out his toy and taken a pop at me....but he didn't, and I've pretty much taken to laughing at these people for being such suckers and fools)