Let me give a little background for how I have arrived at the present time as a person whom some label as 'argumentative'. This begins many, many years ago when it occurred to me that if all the people who are capable of it would behave morally, the world would be a better place. I'm Captain Obvious, you say? Well, sure, but I wasn't speaking of anything complicated or as involved as morality found in religion. Just the most simple moral principle that could be followed by nearly everyone: "Don't treat others the way you wouldn't want to be treated". The Golden Rule. I'm not the only person, and I am far from the first, to observe that if everyone who was capable of it, would follow this simple rule, then most of the world's problems would simply vanish. That is where this story starts.
Fast forward to 6 years ago; In Wisconsin, the passage of Act 10 causes a massive uproar. This happens just as social media is coming into it's own and presents a great opportunity to learn about the views of conservatives and liberals from the people who hold them. I started having conversations and found that this was a fast way to reduce the number of people on a person's friends list. Sigh. Despite this effect, I persisted and trying to learn the mental machinery of both conservatives and liberals.
Fast forward to the present day; With the stunning defeat in state and national politics I sensed and opportunity to advance my knowledge. While prior to November 8th, liberals were unwilling to listen to the concerns of conservatives when their President sat in the White House with his pen and his phone, after November 8th things were very different. I expected that liberals would shift --wishing to be given a fair hearing themselves-- to grudgingly giving conservatives and their concerns a fair hearing. I was stunned when I found that even when their unethical behavior was pointed out liberals still completely refuse to give conservatives a fair hearing!
So clearly there is a ethical malfunction within the liberal mind, which is confounding enough. I have personally encountered individuals who will point-blank refuse to listen and understand the concerns of conservatives while yet wishing to have their own concerns heard and understood--in the present moment!
Why so Polemical?
I'm not, but I am short on patience because this sort of double-standard. It amounts to intentional hypocrisy, and hypocrisy is something that I find personally detestable (here is some of why that is). But I also find that this ethical malfunction of the liberal mind to be deeply disturbing for another reason...
How far does it go?? I wonder.
If liberals refuse to be ethical to conservatives in the political arena and the social arena, then where does it end? This is not an idle or capricious question, it is deadly serious.
Here's why:
We always wonder how things like the holocaust and Rwanda could happen. Clearly, such a thing cannot happen without the people involved suspending their ethics towards their victims.
Am I saying that there is a homicidal maniac within every liberal? Well, before the genocide, would any visitor to Rwanda have said that vast numbers of Rwandans are capable of the wholesale slaughter of other Rwandans? Would the same have been said of Germans of that time prior to the Holocaust?
So is there a homicidal maniac within every liberal?
I don't know. And the only way for me to find out is to have conversations and reach
understanding. BUT! Every single liberal I have encountered has been both unwilling to open up and
discuss their reasons and motivations (here is what I think of that) and uninterested in understanding the concerns of others.
Until I am able to find this out myself, the question of the depths of this dysfunction is very,
very concerning.
Footnote: While liberals may ultimately laugh at the whole issue, that is a fool's response for
two reasons: first, conservatives (or at least Republicans) are in a position to laugh right back
and do what they will with country and Wisconsin. Second, there are about 90 million people in the
country who are not amused and will keep the constitutionally protected arms nearby, just in case.
This is interesting because I have had the same experience in reverse. Maybe because I live in an area with a high number of liberals, but I have found that the conservatives are the ones uniterested in hearing other people's views. So let's put labels aside, after all just because someone calls themself a liberal or conservative doesn't mean that they act like one in practice. What excatly is it you want to be heard? One particular issue that I find conservative to be very closed minded about is climate change. I think that conservatives have a point that we have experienced climate change in the past without humans causing it. However, I do not see how environmental protections are a bad thing. In larger cities pollution levels have considerably dropped since the 70s and 80s and along with it rates of asthma and certain cancers have dropped too. How is this bad? Why aren't we protecting our clean drinking water? Why aren't we "conserving" resources for the future generations? It would seem to me that "conservatives" would be more receptive to "conserving" our natural resourses instead of giving companies free reign to pollute and poison our citizens. It only takes a moment to destroy but can take decades (or longer) to clean.
ReplyDeleteDoes it even matter if humans are the cause of climate change? We may be able to stop it. (The hole in the ozone has greatly reduced since banning CFCs) But can't stop it if we act like alcoholics who are still in denial. The only way we can have a future as a species on this planet is if we try to do something about it. Yes, this may take years of trial and error but that's better than sitting on our laurals, or worse, wontonly destroying the environment for profit.
Can you tell me why we shouldn't protect the environment? Hurting profits seems a pretty flimsy excuse in light of the proven devestation and diseases caused by dumping toxins in our environment.
As a side note, I'm not completely convinced that CO2 is as big a threat as it has been hyped to be lately but I'm at least willing to entertain the idea and would support reasonable restrictions as long as follow up studies are done to confirm they are having the intended effect. (This last part, sadly, is often underfunded.)
Hi Lyndie, thanks for the comment!
ReplyDeleteSorry, but I can't put the labels aside, that is a big part of my overall point. I never said that *all* conservatives are willing to understand and that all liberals are not, only that all liberals are not. I'm not sure about the rest of conservatives, but *this* conservative is willing to listen and interested in understanding.
What to do I want to be heard on? Anything. But not just heard, also *understood*. There is a huge difference. I want to see that those who claim to be interesting in understanding other's points of view, *actually understand* my point of view. Again, it almost doesn't matter what the topic is. This is much more about *them* than about me.
With regard to your experience on discussing climate change, I think there may be several things to account for that experience. First, there isn't a compelling reason for them to listen to you or anyone, it isn't as if there is something for them to lose by not discussing it (either personally or collectively). Second, they may sincerely believe that there is nothing people can do--or *should* do-- regardless of the causes. Third, the science is *far* from 'settled' on climate change and the credibility of the 'alarmists' isn't that sterling. Lastly, the proposed solutions are drastic and may very well end up being worse for humans than the problem. So, to have encountered people not interested in discussing climate change isn't that shocking to me, BUT, my question to you is 'did they not understand the point that you were trying to make?' If they could paraphrase back to you what your position was then that means they understood it.
And honestly, that is *all* I am looking for from liberal at this time. Just some evidence that they actually understand the real concerns that conservatives have, not the 'straw man' arguments and condescending memes that are floated around. If they at least *understand* the concerns of conservatives, then I am willing to listen and demonstrate that I understand their concerns. THEN, we can move on to discussing the implications of the concerns and their possible solutions and seek the elusive 'middle ground' where maybe we can reach some kind of agreement.