Big Lies

[Eric the Green]

(02-22-2017, 11:13 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote:

(02-21-2017, 07:03 PM)Classic-Xer Wrote: The economy has changed and the average blue seems incapable of adjusting to the changes and require more subsidizing than the average red voter. At least, that's the message that I've been receiving from an extreme partisan associated with the blue side. He keeps approaching me as if it's my problem and the issues that blues are having with minorities is my problem too. I don't really care if he makes you look stupid when I make him look stupid by telling him how stupid he looks/comes across to someone like me and how stupid the party who represents him and appears to behind over backwards and cater to his political wants/needs looks to me as well. Why is it that Cynic and I are able to see our differences, but you are unable to see our differences? Are you stupid? Are you not paying enough attention? Are you just another blue who acts like a blue and does what blues do every time a blue  gets upset?

Here you are throwing around the word 'stupid' a lot.  I recently spotted another post here say all Republicans are evil.  There's another familiar claim that everyone who doesn't support strong gun control is insane.  This to me is a core part of partisans perceiving opposing partisans.  Anyone who disagrees with somebody is labeled as having some sort of major mental flaw, as being incapable of rational thinking.  This is not a red thing, nor a blue thing.  It's a partisan thing.  Anyone who doesn't agree with one is considered incapable of thinking straight.

And I'm very dubious about that.  Someone who can't do long division in spite of exposure to a good education might be stupid.  Someone who thinks they are Napoleon Bonaparte might be insane.  As far as I know, no one who contributes here is truly mentally incompetent, but they are sure ready to declare anyone who disagree with them mentally incompetent.

(Expletive deleted.)

It's the person who can't contribute to the conversation except with insults and wild inaccurate stereotypes of how people who disagree with them think that have the problem.  It's the person so locked into and committed to their own culture that they can't make any attempt to understand other cultures that makes conversation impossible.

Now, some people like to be independent, to do things for themselves.  Others prefer to be parts of strong communities, where people help each other.  Neither preference makes one mentally incompetent.  Either philosophy can work, can result in content individuals and communities.

There can be problems when a strong government dedicated to one philosophy or another tries to force one size fits all solutions on everybody, whether they support the solution or not.  When one side wants to tax everybody to provide a service that many don't need, when the other side tries do deny large numbers of people services which they do need, people are going to be sincerely upset and for good reason.

Sincere disagreement makes nobody stupid, insane or evil.  Not being willing to discuss issues, preferring to throw insults and stereotypes around instead, does not help.

All well and good, except for the fact that it often happens (and most certainly is happening today) that one side is more right than the other. And so, it has to be said. It may be upsetting to the red side that the government requires us all to pay for a service that they don't feel they need now. But these are services that we may (and likely will) need sooner or later. The red side does not understand social insurance. They happen to be wrong about that. 

And one side can be wrong about gun control too (although many here on the blue side don't support it). To continue to allow mass shootings and mass murder without any meaningful regulations can be considered insane, because we as a society are not willing to take the needed action and just continue to allow things to go on as they are. Remember the definition of insanity that Marypoza cited for me