Conversation that I had with someone who considers themselves "middle of the road"

[Horse with no Name]

Was talking to a friend the other day. Our relationship is strictly apolitical, but it drifted to politics.:hide:

He started off saying that he liked Obama, thought he was doing a good job--agreed he good do better, but was really pretty happy and would vote for him again. Stated that he also did well financially under Reagan and Bush 41.:puke:

Didn't like Bush 43.:)

Feels like that what happens in the country is strictly the result of the POTUS--doesn't even acknowledge the role of Congress as a factor, good or bad. Doesn't feel that intrinsic or extrinsic factors are at play--doesn't feel that people like Koch's influence elections.:tinfoilhat:

Doesn't support universal healthcare. Feels like all people have to do is work--after all, even McDonald's offers insurance to their employees.:eyes:

He also believes that rich pay their fair share of taxes and we shouldn't ask them to do more.:wow:

He is very uneducated politically. Obviously. And trust me when I say, he was NOT interested in being educated. He is happy happy fine fine in his own little world view.

Yes, we can count on his vote for 2012, but he clearly doesn't SUPPORT us nor can we count on (folks like) him to rally a cause. Sad days ahead.:(

[Historic NY]

1. I got mine and screw the rest fellow.

[Horse with no Name]

4. Yep. That was the way I took it.

He frequently inserted personal experiences to substantiate his position.

[gratuitous]

2. In one respect, all we want is his vote

And as long as he votes for the correct candidate, I'm probably uninterested in his motivations or reasons. He only gets one pull on the lever (or punch on the card or bubble to fill in), and I don't care if he votes for the right candidate because he hears the voices of little green men.

In another respect, he's lucky: He has you for a friend. You don't have to bludgeon him over the head with facts or dump a lot of information on him all at once. But feed him bits and pieces, little by little. One of your happiest days will come when he tells you something about money in elections, or Republican nitwittery, that you hadn't heard yet. Stay in relationship. Education is a process.

[Horse with no Name]

5. I tried to put facts in

He might as well of put his fingers in his ears and started saying "lalalalalala" over and over.
He truly is uninterested in hearing anything that takes him outside of his box.

[gratuitous]

10. It may be a long process

But keep feeding him facts in little bite-sized pieces. One of them will take hold. Like I say, you don't have to unload a truck full o' facts on him, maybe just enough to whet his appetite or pique his interest.

[socialist_n_TN]

25. Pretty much. Boil it down to one or two sentences............

and make it witty. :) Start out by telling him the cookie joke with the CEO, the Teabagger, and the Union guy.

[Norrin Radd]

3. Ask him, "If the road is moved to the right, are you still in the middle?"

[Horse with no Name]

6. My guess is that the answer would be YEP! n/t

[Curmudgeoness]

7. I am sad to say that this is typical. More people are

intentionally ill-informed or uninformed than are active in researching and studying politics. They find it boring and would rather watch Dancing With The Stars and American Idol. I have these conversations all the time, and it has lead me to be very depressed at our chances for a real democracy.

The oddest part of what you report is that he does not believe that people like the Koch's can influence elections. That was hit into left field.

[RufusTFirefly]

17. I agree. Some people think of politics as some sort of a hobby

You know, like stamp collecting.
It's hard to convince these people that politics is about the kind of world we want to live in.

That said, as a political junkie, I don't necessarily feel any happier or more in control than those folks who -- for whatever reason -- are unplugged from the entire process.

Maybe ignorance is bliss

[Curmudgeoness]

18. I have said the same thing many times.

And political junkie is the best term for it, because it is an actual addiction. I have tried at times to walk away from paying attention to politics and the news. Withdrawal. I just cannot allow myself to be ill-informed.

But I do believe that I am probably less happy than I would be if I didn't know all that I know.

[lunatica]

8. What party does he belong to?

This one?

[bobbolink]

9. Its also only about whether they did well financially. To hell with anyone else.

But, then, that is also how many "progressives" judge it. :(

[BrklynLiberal]

11. I also just got a rude awakening when a friend of mine made a few comments that made my jaw drop.

"Notice how the people in Japan didn't loot and steal like those in Haiti and New Orleans?"

When I told her how racist I thought that was, she blasted me for not being willing to listen to another point of view, "like all those women on the view that never let Elizabeth Hasslebeck get a word in edgewise"....

This is an "educated" person, a middle school math teacher!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was appalled, and am trying to come to terms with what
I see in her now. It is very difficult.

:wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow:

[RufusTFirefly]

12. The missing ingredient in many cases is the same:

empathy

I don't know how you teach people to be empathetic. Either you are or you aren't.
For those who aren't, it's possible that some life-changing event will cause them to develop empathy, but, obviously, you can't count on that to happen.

[BrklynLiberal]

13. I think there is a part of the brain that did not develop properly in those lacking

empathy. It really appears to be some sort of genetic defect.
I am sure THEY would say that those of us who care about those around us are the defective ones.

[FiveGoodMen]

24. You might be right, but the implications of that are terrible, indeed.

If it's genetic, then the only way it will ever be stopped is through genocide.

[BrklynLiberal]

26. One can only hope that thru evolution-natural selection-the non-empathetics will die out naturally.

[FiveGoodMen]

23. "I don't know how you teach people to be empathetic"

I think you have to condition them when they're young.

Tell them over and over again that other people matter too, and "how would you like it if someone did that to you?"

Trouble is...

1) You can't teach other people's kids

2) I think this really only works when started at a young age

3) If people change, they tend to get worse, not better. Remind someone that we all need to have each other's backs and it only appeals to those who already agree. But tell someone that they've been cheated, that they deserve a better life and it's only because of some dirty so-and-so that they don't have it ... and you'll get some converts.

Churches used to be in the business of reminding us that we are our brothers' keepers.

Then they changed to hate, and greed, and the Old Testament.

I think that's a big part of what's tipped the balance the last few decades.

[southernyankeebelle]

14. Oh it will one day effect his little world. Once he looses his job and wants unemployment and can't

find a job a unemployment runs out and he still can't find a job. Then you will hear a different tune.

[aquart]

15. He's never really noticed what you find in the middle of the road, has he?

Roadkill. Gonna be a terrific shock to him, one day.

[TNLib]

16. Sounds like your typical American Voter

Basically Clueless, knows they are clueless and doesn't care if they are clueless

I have come to the realization that we are a nation of willful imbeciles and are proud of it.

[City Lights]

19. He won't wake up unless he personally falls on hard times.

IMHO, he's like a lot of Americans. As long as everything is hunky-dory in their personal world they cannot understand how things couldn't be hunky-dory for everyone else. People like that turn my stomach.

[Vinnie From Indy]

20. I blame FIXED News and Limbaugh etc.

The reason that this dumbass and millions of others spout such moronic nonsense is DIRECTLY a result of the gargantuan right-wing lie factory. Limbaugh, FOX News and the rest of the right-wing army of liars SATURATE America EACH DAY with 24 hours of propaganda and lies. In fact there is hardly a square inch of America that is not being peed on by the right propaganda machine.

You can bet, regardless if this guy will admit it, that he consumes right wing BS from his TV or radio. Guaranteed!

[RufusTFirefly]

22. True to a great degree, but it's a mistake to focus too heavily on them

All of the major networks are spouting some level of corporate propaganda. Fox is just the most egregious example. Either that, or they have dumbed down the level of discourse to such an extent that the things they cover would've embarrassed the National Enquirer a couple of decades ago.

Keep in mind that when thousands filled the Capitol in Madison NBC News covered the Easy Bake Oven instead.

UPON EDIT: Changed "to some degree" in my title to "to a great degree." There's no question that Faux and Limbaugh deserve a lot of credit, but the consolidation and corporatization of media have diminished the message of nearly every major news source.

[Urban Prairie]

21. Politics?

Many people nowadays, probably couldn't even name all four dead Presidents whose busts are chiseled into Mt. Rushmore, much less what state it is in, or even point out the state on a globe or US map.

or such as...

Damn...nearly every time when I type the word map or maps, I think of Caitlin Upton, Miss Teen South Carolina 2007.


:dunce: :banghead: