Reply #5: I know some people change because I have changed [View All]

[Protagoras]

And I work with people who change all the time. That being said...not all people will change because the pressures, dynamics, or insight to change may be missing from their lives. Universals though, are usually wrong. I don't know if all people can change. And I am pretty sure that many who MIGHT be able to change would require greater than a normal lifespan to do so. I also think that some things are more resistant to change than others.

Someone who smokes is more likely to be able to change and quit than someone with anti-social personality disorder. And people who have spent 50 years being one way aren't going to change as fast (as a rule) as someone who's only been going down a given road for a week or two.

Don't know If that makes me progressive or not, but whichever so be it. Some people find change easily...some are so rigid that I don't think I'm willing to pay the price to dedicating my life to help them find some sort of self actualization.

As for how inclusive I am...I think there is a big difference between having a BIG tent and having no tent at all. Tents still have walls, ceilings, and floors. And so I have some boundaries. I think fundamental concerns about gender and racial equality are necessary to be in my tent. I think an emphasis on caring for the poor, needy, and disadvantaged rather than on the rich and corporate is necessary to be in my tent. There are a lot of people in my tent. But not everyone...no tent is that large.

So to come full circle...I think this administration is not likely to experience the kinds of things which WOULD change them. I doubt they have much encouragement to do so...even a jail term wouldn't do so. They would have to be completely removed from the corporate and power trough and serve a few years helping people in a leper colony...maybe that would do it...for SOME of them. And like David Brock...I guess one or two might recant at some point...and if they did I'd very very carefully watch their deeds and words to see if it were true.

But only a fool wouldn't be skeptical. Let Bush give up all his wealth and spend the rest of his life building shelters for the homeless in Iraq and we'll talk again about how much I can forgive him. Till then...