The two ends of the political spectrum are killing us

[j-mac]

There's no point in communicating with him. He'll just invent something you "said" and run with it.

I've never understood that.

It is often hard to get the interpretation of some postings right on in terms of what the poster is actually thinking, largely because we don't really talk to each other in here.

We tend to assign little nicknames designed to either insult or flame the person being responded to, rather than articulating what we disagree with in their thought...This has now become more the norm, rather than the exception, like it was when I started posting on message boards, some 24 or 25 years ago....

I as well as you, I suspect have watched the devolution of conversation, and ability to back up claims with articles and data, in favor of just throwing shit against the wall...I blame the cable 24/7 opinion commentary, and the editorializing of the news in reporting...

Don't know how we step back from that and get back to reason, but I do know that each person has to ask themselves, BEFORE they hit "post", if what is said is meant to further the discussion, or is it meant to just insult and flame the poster being replied to? That requires honesty, and self control, and we are all human...

 

[j-mac]

Proceed with caution…the left is sneaky as fuck. They’ll have you bent over and ready to concede more ground before you know it.

Oh, I know....It's a brave new world out there....But, I've been around boards like this for 24 or 25 years, and have pretty much see the tactics...

 

[BlackSand]

We tend to assign little nicknames designed to either insult or flame the person being responded to, rather than articulating what we disagree with in their thought...This has now become more the norm, rather than the exception, like it was when I started posting on message boards, some 24 or 25 years ago....

.

Feel free to super glue some lace to your bowling ball ...
And good luck keeping it out of the gutter ...

.​

 

[Doug1943]

and when you call people your enemy, people think you are Neanderthal Bullies. I would add brainwashed functional neanderthal bullies... here is 72% trump western New York. Absolutely great people but their politics are a disgrace based on lies and resentment and hate. It's terrible. So what exactly is this overreach, tolerance for gays and browns and Asians and Jews and everyone else?

Yeah, I like Haidt a lot. I don't sense a lot of political BS for him. I like nerds.

And regarding "fighting", that's where I go back to the counterproductive potential of thinking we're "at war". "Fighting" and being "at war" automatically eliminate communication, collaboration, innovation. I don't want either end of the spectrum "winning" because they'd take it as a mandate to shove their entire agenda down our throats, and not being a fan of either end, that doesn't work for me.

I heard a commentator say something about three years ago that really hit me: Has it been so long that we communicated like decent, intelligent, civil adults that we've lost that skill altogether? If that's true, the clock is ticking on this country.

The clock IS ticking. But it's not ticking because we are being nasty to each other. That's an effect, not a cause. A set of factors is causing the US to come apart. (I've got some ideas about some of them, but no overall explanation). The low level of our discourse is not an important cause (okay, everything is dialectical, and there is probably some positive feedback).

It's a mistake to look at communications issues as central to conflict. This is the error made by the great Alfred Korzybski, whose 'General Semantics' has a lot of good sense in it. (If you're not familiar with these people, you should check them out.). [ Alfred Korzybski - Wikipedia ] He thought WWI was caused by bad thinking on all sides and that rational thinking by everyone could prevent future wars. If only that were so.

Anyway, let's discuss/debate/argue/yell at each other. It can't hurt. And encourage our co-thinkers on each side to join in, leaving the insults aside.

And ... even enemies can reach agreements on things when both sides benefit. The Geneva Conventions, although not always scrupulously followed, were a step forward for humanity. Even during the Cold War, the US and USSR could agree on the allocation of international radio frequencies, and even agree to ban open-air nuclear testing.

And ... we've got a ways to go before things get really bad. When an AntiFa guy in Portland murdered one of our guys in cold blood, and the others laughed and cheered when they got the happy news, I suspect there were more than a few of our guys who thought about taking revenge. But the murderer met his end at the hands of the police, justice was done, and so far there has been no tit-for-tat -- let's hope it stays that way.

 

[marvin martian]

There's no point in communicating with him. He'll just invent something you "said" and run with it.

I've never understood that.

You're not even able to fess up to the things you actually did say, like this:

Yes. I voted for a shitty candidate and a party that I find repulsive because that's how little I thought of the alternative.

Anything else?

You've been running from (and lying about) your Biden/Harris vote for two years now.

 

[BrokeLoser]

There's no point in communicating with him. He'll just invent something you "said" and run with it.

I've never understood that.

Your posts are wordy by design…like all megalomaniacs you like to hear yourself talk/post and this leads to extreme ambiguity. I sift through all your semantical blurry bullshit and simplify your posts that’s all. I say what you’re saying the way you’d say it if you had balls and weren’t slightly ashamed of your positions.
I’m pretty sure Golfing Gator is smart enough to see that’s exactly what I do.

 

[JimH52]

Yeah, I like Haidt a lot. I don't sense a lot of political BS for him. I like nerds.

And regarding "fighting", that's where I go back to the counterproductive potential of thinking we're "at war". "Fighting" and being "at war" automatically eliminate communication, collaboration, innovation. I don't want either end of the spectrum "winning" because they'd take it as a mandate to shove their entire agenda down our throats, and not being a fan of either end, that doesn't work for me.

I heard a commentator say something about three years ago that really hit me: Has it been so long that we communicated like decent, intelligent, civil adults that we've lost that skill altogether? If that's true, the clock is ticking on this country.

There is no civility in talking politics anymore. trump and his cult ended that with the name calling and the Bronx style slander.

List of nicknames used by Donald Trump - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Dignity left the White House during the trump regime.

 

[BrokeLoser]

You're not even able to fess up to the things you actually did say, like this:



You've been running from (and lying about) your Biden/Harris vote for two years now.

Thats the crazy shit Mac1958 does…..
”The two ends of the spectrum are killing us but I voted for the furthest end that is killing us the most.”

 

[marvin martian]

Thats the crazy shit Mac1958 does…..
”The two ends of the spectrum are killing us but I voted for the furthest end that is killing us the most.”

Except he lies about the fact that he voted for Biden/Harris. Ask him to admit it and see what happens...

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Your posts are wordy by design…like all megalomaniacs you like to hear yourself talk/post and this leads to extreme ambiguity. I sift through all your semantical blurry bullshit and simplify your posts that’s all. I say what you’re saying the way you’d say it if you had balls and weren’t slightly ashamed of your positions.
I’m pretty sure Golfing Gator is smart enough to see that’s exactly what I do.

What I see is that you are sad little man that hates/fears anyone that does not think like you and look like you. Deep down inside you think everyone feels the same way and that we just try and hide it. Thus you try and assign your values to our words, but they will never fit because most people are not like you.

 

[task0778]

The clock IS ticking. But it's not ticking because we are being nasty to each other. That's an effect, not a cause. A set of factors is causing the US to come apart. (I've got some ideas about some of them, but no overall explanation). The low level of our discourse is not an important cause (okay, everything is dialectical, and there is probably some positive feedback).

It's a mistake to look at communications issues as central to conflict. This is the error made by the great Alfred Korzybski, whose 'General Semantics' has a lot of good sense in it. (If you're not familiar with these people, you should check them out.). [ Alfred Korzybski - Wikipedia ] He thought WWI was caused by bad thinking on all sides and that rational thinking by everyone could prevent future wars. If only that were so.

I am not so sure that communications issues aren't BOTH effect and cause. Partly because the low level of discourse can inflame some people to take actions that might not otherwise happen, but also the question of honest and unbiased news reporting. If people are not told the whole story then how are they to make an informed decision? We find out a year or two later that we were lied to or at best the truth was doctored/manipulated and some stories just flat out were not reported in the name of politics. So, I think th nastiness does influence or maybe cause misconduct.

 

[BrokeLoser]

What I see is that you are sad little man that hates/fears anyone that does not think like you and look like you. Deep down inside you think everyone feels the same way and that we just try and hide it. Thus you try and assign your values to our words, but they will never fit because most people are not like you.

You share the same opinion about me as all do in that little leftist echo chamber of yours…I’m good with that.
Further…I know for an absolute fact that you lefties DO NOT “feel the same way”….trust me.

 

[BrokeLoser]

Except he lies about the fact that he voted for Biden/Harris. Ask him to admit it and see what happens...

He won’t say he voted for that circus….he’ll play word games and frame it another way and say- “I voted against the orange petulant child.”

 

[leftwinger]

We have Political Prisoners locked up for years. Trump associates are harrassed by FED GOVT lawyers daily for 8 yrs now, jailed, phones taken, homes raided, lawyers raided. Over nothing in almost all cases.
Banks and Internet sites forced (to deny access) or not to do business with Corporations who side with Trump (no bank account at BofA for you). Walgreens kicked out of CA because they won't sell kid-killer Pills in other states? ANTIFA BLM riots across all of 2020 go un-punished. 100 straight nights of rioting in Portland? almost none locked up. but Grandma walking thru Capitol is raided and flew to DC gulag?

Worst of all the Election fraud in 2020 is off the charts with zero accountability and State-FED Republicans went along with it? 2022 in AZ was even worse.....GA runoffs, PA fetterman on and on and on.
No one would even prove they have 1.9 mail in scans of Signatures for 1.9mil mail in votes in Maricopa? denied access. You are a White Supremacist if you ask for actual accounting of results. GA...same thing. 4 operatives caught running secret ballots alone at night after kicking everyone out. On Camera. nothing to see here. MI NV NM WI........millions of Ballots submitted without a legal voter signature attached.

LW loons think its' all OK living under this Tyrannical overreach as it does not affect them. Their side "won" lol!
And they think "WE" should just roll over, be quiet and enjoy their Democracy? WTH? And a whole lot more since 2007 that goes back to Code Pink, Acorn......on and on from them.

 

[leftwinger]

There is no civility in talking politics anymore. trump and his cult ended that with the name calling and the Bronx style slander.

List of nicknames used by Donald Trump - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Dignity left the White House during the trump regime.

Cept for Obiden 1.0 if they bring a knife we bring a gun....we kick them. on and on and on. Deplorables. Laugh it up funny boy.
Trump refused to take it from LW hacks. And I put him on MT. Rushmore for slamming it back in MSM faces and LW Political hacks.


Day 1........Trump calls to Mexico and AUSTRAILA were leaked by LW operatives in DC. I remember you all cheered for that.
Its' a WAR now. And your side will be crushed....eventually. It won't be pretty.//

 

[JimH52]

Cept for Obiden 1.0 if they bring a knife we bring a gun....we kick them. on and on and on. Deplorables. Laugh it up funny boy.
Trump refused to take it from LW hacks. And I put him on MT. Rushmore for slamming it back in MSM faces and LW Political hacks.


Day 1........Trump calls to Mexico and AUSTRAILA were leaked by LW operatives in DC. I remember you all cheered for that.
Its' a WAR now. And your side will be crushed....eventually. It won't be pretty.//

You sound pretty miserable. The weekend is coming and you can let FAUX news lie to you 24/7 then. Enjoy your world of alternative facts!

 

[dblack]

He won’t say he voted for that circus….he’ll play word games and frame it another way and say- “I voted against the orange petulant child.”

You can't vote "against" a candidate. Not with our current voting system. All you can do is vote "for" a candidate - and all that will be recorded is your vote supporting that candidate. No one will ever know who you were supposedly voting "against".

 

[j-mac]

.

Feel free to super glue some lace to your bowling ball ...
And good luck keeping it out of the gutter ...

.​

lol...good one....But one has to try, No?

 

[Laslow]

Why? You know what I'm talking about. I'm not going to waste the bandwidth.

You are just another racist piece of crap. You are a true democrat.

 

[Mac1958]

You are just another racist piece of crap. You are a true democrat.

Okie dokie!