Dumb, Nuts, or Mean
Crazy, cruel, or clueless - that's what you are, if you disagree with me, on a political matter that I'm passionate about.
In other words, if we differ greatly in our support/opposition to various political ideologies/parties/candidates/issues of import, then there is definitely something wrong with you. You must be defective in one or both of the following ways:
• morally defective (e.g., Nazi, racist, misogynist, anti-Semitic, unpatriotic, evil, etc)
• mentally defective (e.g., insane, ignorant, dumb, corporatist, socialist, etc)
(Pssst, satire alert. This whole post could be satire.)
Here is the irrefutable, no-need-to-examine line of subconscious thinking:
1) I know I am right, because ...
__1a) I've never been proven wrong about important, political matters (albeit these matters are unprovable either way).
__1b) The people who I consider to be right, also think I'm right (albeit it is hard to see how that could be otherwise).
__1c) I tell myself that I'm willing to listen to contrary ideas (albeit I never do this).
__1d) I tell myself that I have an open mind (albeit it has never been changed yet).
2) My beliefs come solely from unselfish goodness and solid reasons/evidence, which act as though they were "2 + 2" to produce an obvious result of "4".
3) Thus, those who disagree must be suffering from some serious disorder that explains why they cannot do the equivalent of simple addition or refuse to accept the result.
4) If they cannot do the addition, they must have a disorder of the mind (e.g., idiosy, ignorance, madness).
5) If they refuse to accept the result, they must have a disorder of the heart (e.g., lacking compassion, hateful, selfish).
In fact, all disagreement can be explained as follows:
1) Everyone in the world falls into just two groups: those with good hearts and minds (GHM) and those with either bad hearts or minds (BHM) or both.
2) Those in the GHM group are always right about matters they strongly believe in.
3) Ergo, those who disagree with GHM on any major point must be in the BHM group.
Of course, in my humility, I am well aware that I am only one of many of the world's denizens who share a basic reasonableness and decency, from which all the goodness of the world flows, to the benefit of all. Yet, it is a pity, that as great as our numbers are, there are many who lack these essential qualities, which leads to unresolvable social and political tragedies.
Here are examples of social tragedies (lost relationships due to political disagreements):
Another long term "friendship" ended - Tue Jan-11-11
It's a story we have all told before. People who have been friends for 20+ years who used to lean conservative and have been in full "wing nut" mode since 08. This was the last straw for me.
Losing friends right and right over HCR - Thu Mar-25-10
I had to de-friend her, send a message saying there are other reunions I attend where no one inquires about kinfolks' religious or political leanings, and I'll stick with those and wish her well with the others.
But what can be done? To no avail, you have already attempted to enlighten them with well-chosen words, to which they seem to barely listen as they interrupt you with their crazy babble. It is as though a troll has been unmasked, leaving you viscerally repulsed and aware of the presence of a political enemy, who you can tell feels the same way about you. At this point, it is unimaginable that an amiable relationship can continue with such a person, whether a neighbor, colleague, friend, or family relation. Yet, it is a painful loss. If only there were some way to prevent or repair such tears in the fabric of our social networks...
The political tragedy is our rudderless government, which is all because of the trolls of the world. But what can be done? Since these trolls are inherently defective and they cannot be reasoned with, there is really no point in explaining the truth to them or listening to anything they have to say. The only way forward is to go around them, through sheer numbers on our side. Once we get the filibuster-proof majority of votes in the Senate and control of the House, Oval Office, and the Supreme Court, then we can just hammer down the truth in effective regulations, legislation, jurisprudence, and executive orders that will benefit everyone including the trolls, who ironically will continue gnashing their teeth and howling long after they've begun to benefit and thus have been proven wrong. But no matter, because we can just eschew their company while basking in the glow of good governance.
On the other hand, it does seem a tall order to get the filibuster-proof majority, and it looks like we may never get it, as both sides have been locked in a sea-sawing transfer of power with slight majorities for the last two decades. But because I cannot imagine what else can be done, I will just keep pushing for that filibuster-proof majority and bank on a miracle. I mean, we're bound to get the super majority someday. It's kind of like the state lottery. Although I haven't won yet, I'm sure if I just keep the faith and keep playing, I'll win the jackpot, enabling a life of luxury and a secure retirement as well. Yea, that's the ticket.