Clipped Wings (773 hits)
Category: PoliticsRating: 1.94 on 22 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by <deisangua.at.hotmail.com> (View user info) at 2004-04-07 10:27:20 EDT
You fucking liberal.
You conservatives are so stupid.
Oh, and I suppose you think...
People like you are what's wrong with this country.
Bush is a liar.
Kerry won't keep this country safe.
The extremist right wing conservatives are running the country.
The media is too liberal.
Your god has nothing to do with it.
This country was founded on Christian morality.
We've done great things Iraq despite the difficulties.
Iraq is falling apart.
I don't want my children exposed to...
Stop trying to run my life.
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Heard any of this lately?
Political discussion has never been easy. But lately I have begun to wonder if it is even possible in the current climate. Petty absurdity arises from the extremism on both sides, and the people caught in the middle are being pressed to choose sides.
Imagine being a centrist for a moment, perhaps deciding issues on a case-by-case basis instead of laying claim to whatever policy is being endorsed by a party. Many of you may be thinking "Hey, I do that." So why is the shouting of extremism drowning you out? What happened to your voice, that the intensity of the minor few has forced our national consciousness towards a serious split?
Honestly, if I knew nothing about America and picked up a newspaper or went onto a discussion board today, I would probably assume many things, such as:
There is no such thing as a Christian Democrat.
Anyone that is pro-gun is a Republican member of the NRA.
Liberals are civil and smart pussies hiding their head in the sand.
Conservatives are barbaric and anachronistic tough guys fighting for principle.
One side wants religion to rule law.
The other side wants to erase the terms of "freedom OF religion" and replace it with "freedom FROM religion."
There is no middle ground.
I would have so many wrong ideas about who we are as country. Or are these ideas that wrong? Perception can create reality, if the perception exists long enough. And to me it seems as though the reality is that we are polarized...to the point of being constantly yanked left and right by the extreme people who wrap themselves in the banner of two very stubborn and immovable animals.
If I think Iraq was a bad idea, then suddenly I am a unsupportive liberal fuck. If I am pro-death penalty and big business, suddenly I am a cold-hearted conservative bastard. So what's the truth?
I know the truth. You may not, but before too long I'm sure you will figure out whether I'm on Your Side or Theirs. And it won't matter one bit if that label is right or wrong, as long as you know if I'm an ally or an enemy.
Except that you are a fellow citizen of my country. We are siblings who grew up in the same house but have wildly differing opinions. I am not your enemy. Please stop treating me like one. I swear I would die fighting for your survival if it were necessary.
Yes, even you, my ultra-opinionated political control freak (who is ALWAYS right).
I'm not in the game of Kumbaya or "let's all have peace and compromise and kisses." But this is a very personal issue for me, because the United States of America alone has been my mother and my father, for better or for worse. I look upon it with the same consideration - and even the love/hate relationship - that one might have with a true parent. Watching this country split on ideological grounds has been akin to watching a massive divorce in the making, where one side can't even hear the other talk anymore.
For me, it's more frightening than terrorism. I can handle someone wanting my blood. But this absence of connection seems like a slow and unstoppable poison.
I'm done with this topic. I think I'll go read the news...see what they are saying today about war hawks and doves of peace.
Then I'll go outside and see if I can't spot an American Eagle.
User Reviews
Submitted by Deisangua (user info) at 2004-04-08 17:27:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Perhaps...I'm just some guy, anyways.
Besides, there's always the wonders of instant communication.
Submitted by SpikeGoddess (user info) at 2004-04-08 15:42:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I truly regret not meeting you when I was in Florida. I have a feeling that I could sit and talk to you all day long and not realize any time had passed at all.
Submitted by Deisangua (user info) at 2004-04-08 13:40:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
That is very true. As it becomes easier to obtain pleasure, purposefully dealing with a painful problem appears to be less necessary, especially in technologically advanced societies. But as that leads to inaction on hardships, social entropy speeds up. In the USA, this would lead to a ever-widening division.
The other thing, about agreement and understanding, always struck me as slightly sad. I am willing to bet almost everyone has said (at some point) the equivalent of "people don't get/understand me." Well, that may be true.
Logically, means that when I run into anyone I can know with a huge certainty that they won't presume I will understand them. This assumption may be rendered valid or invalid depending on the effort put into seeing eye to eye (and while we may be interested in getting others to see our point of view, we are often not so interested in seeing theirs), but it is nevertheless a result of being two individuals with different world views. Acknowledging that - and accepting it to be true - seems to be very difficult for our society.
But perhaps this is again, a side effect of avoiding hardship, because real comprehension of another person is difficult compared to self-satisfaction. And that's even before getting into other reasons people avoid relating viewpoints (like pride, or obtuse thinking).
Submitted by SpikeGoddess (user info) at 2004-04-08 13:12:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Yes, the whole "understanding doesn't equal agreement thing" is REALLY hard. I used to feel that if people didn't agree with me it was just because I hadn't explained things well enough yet. Granted, I learned that was a fallacy when I was about 17, while my mother is 51 and still believes this.
I think the media's need to draw audiences is a causal factor of the polarity in political discourse. It's not fun to watch people compromise. It's fun to watch the soap opera with ugly people. Hence my reference to Postman's book.
Submitted by Deisangua (user info) at 2004-04-08 12:57:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
The death-by-chocolate of social discourse books? No, I haven't read it.
But what do we do about it is a damn good question. I'd like to see both sides measuring the usefulness of their policies - not whether they should be - but how far they need to go before becoming ludicrous.
I'd also like to see more attempts at comprehending the viewpoints of the other side instead of rejecting them outright because they obviously conflict. It's like political argumentation cannot think dynamically. Because is it that far of a stretch to acknowledge that - in the case of abortion - women may feel they should have the right to choose what they do to their own bodies AND also acknowledge that there is profound negative psychological affect on many women who make that choice?
The abortion issue is a million times more multi-tiered and complex, but even those two direly conflicting points of reason (and they are both damn good ones with valid reasoning, in my opinion) cannot be heard because the automatic reaction is that they are mutually exclusive, and can be simply decided based on the action of aborting or not aborting.
Simple may not be the way to deal with the complexities of society. It is just the easiest way. And when one extremist stands tall and says "Follow me! I have here a simple answer!" many people react with a relief that they no longer have to deal with the complexity of the situation.
Okay, I'm being socially critical again, and it probably doesn't help. But I would think that more people have to stop and listen with the intention of understanding. And we've got to learn that understanding does not always equal agreement.
Submitted by SpikeGoddess (user info) at 2004-04-08 12:40:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
True.
How do we stop it?
Ever read "Amusing Ourselves to Death," Deisangua?
Submitted by mystiamoon (user info) at 2004-04-08 09:47:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
this was.....supergood!
Submitted by iamhewhoisnot (user info) at 2004-04-07 14:43:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
agreed
Submitted by domenad (user info) at 2004-04-07 14:13:14 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Twee, you totally missed the joke....
Submitted by TwEE (user info) at 2004-04-07 14:09:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
How is this liberal Domonad? He poked fun at both sides. And you just proved his point, by lashing out.
Submitted by domenad (user info) at 2004-04-07 12:48:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
THis is the sort of liberal crap I'm talking about, the communist leftist scum that are infecting America.
I'll +2 you. I WON"T GIVE YOU THE SATISFACTION.
Submitted by slowlyrotting (user info) at 2004-04-07 11:36:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Rixes (user info) at 2004-04-07 11:26:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
So odds are just as many Iraq citizens are split on there feelings towards america. There is no right and wrong anymore, just the majority and the minority.
Submitted by bargled (user info) at 2004-04-07 11:26:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
what happened to peace love and understandin'
Submitted by DarthAwesome (user info) at 2004-04-07 11:16:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Yeah, sorry If I offended anyone. I've heard a lot of disrespectful comments, some aimed towards me, since I moved. It angers me because my family has documented roots into almost every American war. Some of the things people down here just disgust me.
Submitted by WillZone (user info) at 2004-04-07 11:15:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
"Politics are just soap operas with ugly people. "
Love it.
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2004-04-07 11:09:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I have always heard that the fight is for the middle. You will never move the two extremes and the middle pendulums back and forth. The "Regan Democrats" voted for Clinton and so it would seem Gore for all the good it did. Somewhere along the way, it became the Christian thing to do to be a Republican - I think Regan pulled that little stunt off even though Carter is just about the most religious person who has ever held the office. From my vantage point the country has never been this far apart since the Civil War. Maybe that is just my perception, but we really do seem to be at war with each other. Also from my vantage point, there is no such a thing as compromise with the right. They see compromise as moving towards them not meeting in the middle.
Darth, I'm in the south. Don't think that everyone in the south is conservative. I think you are probably in a rich area hence your spin on this.
It seems to be turning into more of a case of class warfare than anything. There is a new study out about where the profits from the increase in production have gone. Normally, when there is an increase in production, it goes 65% to labor and 35% to corporate profits. Since Bush took office that has been reversed. It's the first time since WWII that labor has not seen the major share in profits. I see this at work. We are a private company, but I have access to the financial statements so I know what goes on behind the scenes. The average increase in pay this year was 4%, but the vast majority of the labor force got 1% to 2%, it was very top heavy. In short, the rich are getting richer, the middle class is treading water, and the poor are fucked.
Submitted by AlwaysAnEagle (user info) at 2004-04-07 11:04:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Good work.
Submitted by dohnuts (user info) at 2004-04-07 10:56:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Well said.
Submitted by DarthAwesome (user info) at 2004-04-07 10:55:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
You put into words what has been on my mind for a while now. I can't say anything without being painted as a "fag loving liberal". People probably think I spend my free time undermining the government because I don't support the war in Iraq. And of course, if you don't support the idea behind the war, you don't suppor the troops either. So now I'm also an insane islam loving terrorist.
Then I say I come from a long line of soldiers and want nothing more than our boys to come home safely, then I'm a "no good yankee liar". There were conservatives where I used to live, and I never bumped into this unprovoked hatred in PA.
After living here for 6 months, I can say that the south is the problem. I have never met such an unexcepting group of people in my life.
Submitted by schwenckie (user info) at 2004-04-07 10:49:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Wow. I myself try to avoid most media b/c it just upsets me. If I do watch or listen to political stuff, I try to aborb just facts, not emotions or petty bullshit. It's easier said than done. I do love my country, and it is so hard to talk to anyone about politics without someone getting pissed. So unless I know you, I don't discuss it. I don't classify myself to any party, and I vote for what I think is right. But I would fight to keep it so I can remain "unclassified."
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2004-04-07 10:47:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Agreed.
Politics are just soap operas with ugly people.