One of the lawyers that defended a handful of J6 insurrectionists said they would give them a reading list to help them understand on a general level what any of the legal charges they faced concerned or what the consequences could be, or just how government worked, and because this was ‘‘you need to read this before trial so you can ACTUALLY have a chance of getting a plea deal or even a dismissal if you can actually convince a judge you now grasp what you did and how bad it was, and you’re super duper sorry’’ some actually read them. And they came out of it going ‘‘oh… I’ve been lied to and manipulated into doing very illegal shit by a political party that knows it can no longer win elections and needs to do very illegal shit to retain any level of power’’ and similar thoughts.
But yes. If they instead acquired a smidge of curiosity and interest in worthwhile pursuits they would probably stop being garbage ass people. Maybe we need to make reading cool? Possible dinosaurs reading on posters. That’s what got me reading.
And the main reason they’re not happy is that they got left behind by the evil fucks they keep voting for. It’s beyond maddening.
I had an old lady get emotional over a government subsidy offered to help reduce some of her septic system expenses. It was the first time in a long time the government ever helped her she said. It felt good to help.
Then I had another old lady tell me she was going to die and it was going to be my fault and I deserved to go to hell because that same rebate program ended and there was no funding left.
One step forward one step back.
The difference is, I support people to have any kind of sexuality or gender or life or love that they want, I actively want them to have those rights.
But I don’t hang those flags all over my car, my yard, my clothes, my pets, etc. Maybe a few people do here and there, but I don’t feel so threatened in my values that I need to constantly reaffirm it and display it to the world. Most people feel this way, even though the majority of Americans support these rights.
This is why you see far, far more Trump propaganda than ANY kinds of special awareness flags. Which are totally different anyway. One supports an idea. One worships a man who wants to police ideas.
gasp! But muh daddy ain’t know them flags, and we fear the unknown!
Plus they rejekted teh Jeezus!! Graar!
They don’t like to read
I argue that’s the issue right there.
Reading only headlines will get you there quickly. But headlines are click bait and insufficient.
I recall seeing a study on the demographics of who actually reads articles and MAGAs were among the most that did not read.
I’m never happy and it didn’t turn me into a MAGA dipshit. I don’t think I’m even an asshole most of the time or at least I try not to be.
Maybe you should blame others more, especially foreigners, liberals, and education. Your problem is that you’re not blaming the right people.
I’m never happy and just blamed everyone collectively, rather than specific groups. I’ve been around humans enough to know we’re all equally awful.
That’s so weird… with some exceptions, I’ve found most people to be pretty nice and friendly once you get to know them. I would never have said “we’re all equally awful”… I think I want to keep living in my world rather than yours.
I think the larger thing lacking is two-fold.
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Perspective. These people lack the ability to look at the world objectively and outside themselves to see the larger picture of where they fit in the world. They are unable or unwilling to comprehend anything remotely complex.
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Empathy. They are unable or unwilling to walk a step let alone a mile in anyone’s shoes but their own.
oh, number 2 is worse than you think. I picked up on a talk show on the radio the other night with a guest author who wrote, “Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion”. They’re actively teaching to avoid empathy,
In Toxic Empathy, Allie Beth Stuckey argues that empathy has become a tool of manipulation by left-wing activists who bully people into believing that they must adopt progressive positions to be loving. She explores the five most heated issues through which toxic empathy is deployed: abortion, gender, sexuality, immigration, and social justice.
This is what fills the airwaves around here of which a lot of elderly and rural citizens are inundated with daily.
On 1, someone pointed out to me that a lot of people who are susceptible to MAGA are people who don’t know what it is to be an expert on something.
They don’t have PhDs and MDs and JDs in their social or peer groups. They assume everyone’s knowledge of complex things is as superficial and uncertain as their own; literally they do not recognize the difference between things stated as fact versus things stated as opinion. Their day-to-day practice, as far as anything complex, is to let their emotions rule; practice makes perfect.
The thing they exercise most is their amygdala, and that’s why conservatism causes an enlargement of the amygdala.
Compassion is a natural result of Empathy: those who feel as if their own a bit of other people’s emotions don’t want others to be unhappy if only because that makes them feel a bit unhappy themselves.
This also applies to positive emotions, so those with higher Empathy are more likely to want others to feel good as that makes them feel good hence their notion of A Better World also includes what’s good for other people rather than purely what’s good for they themselves.
Sounds like a basket of deplorables to me.