The Maelstrom of Violence

[Bob Butler 54]

Kinser

I guess two points. To some extent most everyone will generalize or stereotype. To a degree they are just different degrees of the same thing. I call myself ‘leaning blue’ often, but I see myself looking deeper into the past and guessing further into the future than most. Also, if anyone thinks I lean blue on gun policy, they will find the errors of the ways real fast. While I generalize, and see that as unavoidable dealing with huge numbers of people, vile stereotyping and expecting people to live up to the stereotypes is another level. That is highly problematic if altogether common.

You? Anyone who jumps from Marx to Trump isn’t going to fit cleanly into the obvious pidgin holes. I find myself agreeing a lot with what you say about health care. However, it would seem you favor sharing risks and costs, which puts you quite some distance from many reds. One of many blindnesses you have is in expecting your chosen father and party to be with you on health care. I’m doubtful. Not vital. I’ll wait and see.

What does it mean to be black? I don’t mean skin pigmentation. It’s more about the culture. Many share a good deal of culture and life experience. Some diverge strongly. I don’t think I’d nominate Obama, Carson or yourself as being particularly close to any pattern or stereotype. Anyone who jumped from Marx to Trump likely shouldn’t center any pattern or stereotype. You’re you, which is nothing to be ashamed of, but means a lot of your opinions fit only those in your pattern or stereotype.

Which aren’t exactly numerous. I’m not saying main line black is significantly better or worse than main line red, main line blue, or any other color combination. I just don’t see you as main line anything, which is in may ways a good thing. Who wants to be boring? But, if you shun the main lines, you aren’t the pope.

I do know the civil rights movement shifted a lot of party allegiances. You seem to be trying to deny this and the logic behind it. I don’t think your beliefs change reality.

I do have a perceived problem with extreme partisans. Ideally I’d favor a scientific world view. One looks at reality and build a descriptive method for analyzing and understanding the world. The extreme partisan approach is in many ways the opposite. One decides on a method for analyzing and understanding the world, then closes one’s mind to anything that conflicts with the analysis. A nigh on religious faith in the value of the analysis is common. My fate seems to be to feud with the many extreme partisans that contribute to these forums, whose world views are many if linked to the individual, varied, and often extremely narrow. Your tendency seems to be to latch onto a particular partisan world view and ignore any faults it may have.

You have lately given your loyalty to one guy. Any reason to question this loyalty gets value locked out of your personal variation of existence. This isn’t apt to change. You’ll just issue a papal bull claiming what you don’t want to be so isn’t so. Not much to be done about it. However. not much from that perspective is to be taken seriously.

Meanwhile, if your basic loyalty isn’t that of a typical black guy, you’re not much help in building up black generalizations or stereotype. I might not be an expert in saying what makes someone culturally ‘black’, but if building a culture or stereotype were my goal, I wouldn’t start with you. I don’t count that as a big deal insult. Being kinda unique can be a good thing. It just doesn’t make you representative.

Sifting to Trump and the see saw...

Given an apparent extreme partisan worldview which gives loyalty to Trump, expecting to open your eyes seems futile. The only reason for hope is the ability to leap away from Marx.

Trump preempted the Republican base by adapting the unraveling memes and enabling the old racism. You won’t want to see this. I feel a papal bull coming on. “I don’t like it, thus it mustn’t be so!” Anyway, I don’t see the culture being transformed by a rehash of obsolete ideas. That makes me dubious on one level. Then I look at the dysfunctional White House, narcism, vindictiveness, a failed agenda, ignored promises, sexism, a split dysfunctional party, impulsiveness… Well, part of my judgement comes from leaning blue, and that part is to be considered dubious, but I still really can’t see Trump building a policy and personality capable of shifting a culture. While you’ve a world view that seems designed to allow you not to see it, I’m anticipating another bounce of the see saw. What this see saw bounce will lead to, I don’t know. Ask a blue extreme partisan. I’m guessing they’ll tell you. It’s all very clear in the stars, I’m sure.

Oh. And this piece isn’t so much about shifting an extreme partisan world view. That is unlikely. It is more about the nature of extreme partisanship.