fucking what? Iāve commentedĀ numerousĀ times on Mamdani??
My bad, Iāll dig thru your profile for that.
Bruh. I lived in a deeply conservative area for most of my life. My social circles were deeply conservative, and I feigned being āapoliticalā to avoid having to go nuclear at a time when my living position was precarious.
I feel that, and I can relate. Iām less precarious today.
Thinking that thereās a commonality of dislike there is falling for the extremely thin mask they put on whenever some liberal gives them pushback. Itās not real. They immediately drop the mask when around people they think are similar to them.
Oh, that? Thatās not what Iām talking about for a motive. But in retrospect, I can see how I read that way.
We have to distinguish between a spectrum of rightwingers - the ones who know the dogwhistles are such, and those who are so uneducated they bought the frame of āsmall governmentā as good in its own right because āeveryone agreesā. Like itās a religion they were raised in.
āHating the elitesā (whatever that means) isnāt a coherent political idea as a result. Having 3 jobs and being pissed that youāre still broke? Thatās a coherent political thought they donāt even have the vocabulary to express.
Is the āelite-hateā just antisemitism pretending to look vaguely leftish? Potentially. Or has this dudebro been so starved of literacy that he takes the dogwhistle unironically, but wonāt connect ābillionaireā with that on his own? This is a spectrum.
Iād rather find and talk to the drive of āwhy am I still poor when I work this hard?ā
If an upscale clothing store manager steps to me talking about āthese kids donāt know how to work,ā Iām acknowledging how exhausted he looks. His is not a life of dignity, and I will say this to him. The education system has failed him through his trainees, and he is being asked to pick up the slack. Where are bank tellers going to come from when kids graduate unable to count money? What kind of AI are data scientists going to build when they donāt understand what each statistics distribution describes?
We are failing to invest in our country, and he will either see how this affects him personally, or he will walk away seething. If he brings up DEI or trans anything, or immigrant crime? I have a one-liner to address it and move back to the real conversation - you work too hard bro, and its because our systems are failing.
āHating the elitesā (whatever that means) isnāt a coherent political idea as a result. Having 3 jobs and being pissed that youāre still broke? Thatās a coherent political thought they donāt even have the vocabulary to express.
Alright, but many of them take a perverse pride in poverty, donāt work three jobs, and quite explicitly love the elite. Like, the level of idolization of rich folk who share their dogwhistles that goes on is insane.
If youāve never seen a Trump flag with Ramboās body on it, count yourself lucky. And itās not a new trend either. Wealth means people are āsmartā and āhardworkingā, unless they start talking all liberal-like. The āelitesā they hate are not the people who drain their meagre wealth away from them, theyāre the people that make them feel insecure - doctors, lawyers, career politicians who donāt suck them off.
Is the āelite-hateā just antisemitism pretending to look vaguely leftish? Potentially.
Not even, though. Elite hate isnāt a smokescreen for something more nefarious - step back, take in the full view of their position, and it is literally just that - hate for elites. The issue is that the āelitesā they despise are people who make them feel ālesserā intellectually.
And the worst part is, many of these people are not stupid, inherently. But theyāve been raised to see incuriosity about their preconceptions as a virtue. They will simultaneously express what a BADASS REBEL they are by meekly submitting to conservative social norms and what a GOOD UPSTANDING LAW-ABIDING CITIZEN they are for meekly submitting to conservative norms. And if you point it out, they see no contradiction. Which, in practice if not principle, to be fair, I suppose there isnāt.
I flatter myself a bit in saying that I have a bit of an edge in arguments with most people. I used to like to argue, and got very good at it - now I argue out of exhausted obligation and the knowledge that letting points go uncontested in a social circle lets them multiply, which results in very unpleasant social circles. Let me tell you, the insanity of giving gentle pushback and maneuvering a conservative into a position where they state something in reverse of their position (such as from āpoliticians need more powerā to āpoliticians need less powerā) while still maintaining their original position isā¦
1984 had it fucking right, man. The level of people to engage in doublethink is overwhelming.
If an upscale clothing store manager steps to me talking about āthese kids donāt know how to work,ā Iām acknowledging how exhausted he looks.
I suppose I canāt speak to that. My experience is overwhelmingly with poor, rural, religious conservative America.
I suppose I canāt speak to that. My experience is overwhelmingly with poor, rural, religious conservative America.
My experience is varied. Some of the rural folk, but also the men who think theyāre above that, and think Trump will cut their taxes. Evangelicals too.
Iāve even gone off on some religious nut to ārepent his following an Antichrist,ā which spooked him enough to make him leave.
1984 had it fucking right, man. The level of people to engage in doublethink is overwhelming.
Calling them on that outright rarely does anything, unless we can get someone else to follow up with the same until we wear them down. And they blow up every single time.
Alright, but many of them take a perverse pride in poverty, donāt work three jobs, and quite explicitly love the elite. Like, the level of idolization of rich folkĀ who share their dogwhistlesĀ that goes on is insane.
See, my first instinct is to call those elites they love? Manipulate Liberals. But that takes work and deep cultural access and context to discern, and I rarely have that.
Elite hate isnāt a smokescreen for something more nefarious - step back, take in the full view of their position, and it is literally just that - hate for elites. The issue is that the āelitesā they despise are people who make them feel ālesserā intellectually.
This is why I usually start with a frame of hating Liberals. Out loud. 5-10 minutes of āsounding like Tuckerā to get them nodding along. Invite them to learn. Whether they do or donāt, make them feel smart for even nodding alongā¦ And then switch the frame when we hit a natural pivot point. It doesnāt work every time, but they at least walk away respecting me for not being an elitist Liberal.
And the worst part is, many of these people are notĀ stupid, inherently. But theyāve been raised to see incuriosity about their preconceptions as aĀ virtue. They will simultaneously express what a BADASS REBEL they are by meekly submitting to conservative social norms and what a GOOD UPSTANDING LAW-ABIDING CITIZEN they are for meekly submitting to conservative norms. And if you point it out, they see no contradiction. Which, inĀ practiceĀ if not principle, to be fair, I suppose there isnāt.
Crystalized as āconservative is the new punk rockā in more recent years. I see that.
This is where I talk about being good neighbors. When my neighbor hurts, it hurts me. And if I can look you in the eye? Youāre my neighbor. I owe you some basic respect simply for you being here. How can I help, neighbor?
My experience is varied. Some of the rural folk, but also the men who think theyāre above that, and think Trump will cut their taxes. Evangelicals too.
Iāve even gone off on some religious nut to ārepent his following an Antichrist,ā which spooked him enough to make him leave.
My experience is almost solely with the rural and religious. By the time I lived in a place where the suburban middle-class civility politics variant of right-wing ghoul was a significant population, I had gained a much greater ability to be discerning in who I chose to be in my social circle.
Calling them on that outright rarely does anything, unless we can get someone else to follow up with the same until we wear them down. And they blow up every single time.
Iām honestly of the opinion that 95% of them are unsalvageable by any means.
The point of hammering them on these points is to make them ashamed and quiet again to reduce the spread and acceptance of their vile shite.
You canāt cure the disease, but quarantine can reduce its spread.
See, my first instinct is to call those elites they love? Manipulate Liberals. But that takes work and deep cultural access and context to discern, and I rarely have that.
Unfortunately, calling the elites that they love āliberalsā or āsocialistsā just gets them angry at you for daring to defame their good holsum corporate masters. Even before Elongated Muskrat was a conservative darling, trying to point out that he was sucking government subsidies at great cost to the taxpayer got many conservatives I spoke with genuinely angry. āYes, heās a businessman, that makes him smart!ā
This is why I usually start with a frame of hating Liberals. Out loud. 5-10 minutes of āsounding like Tuckerā to get them nodding along. Invite them to learn. Whether they do or donāt, make them feel smart for even nodding alongā¦ And then switch the frame when we hit a natural pivot point. It doesnāt work every time, but they at least walk away respecting me for not being an elitist Liberal.
See, when that pivot point hits, the conservatives Iāve known all either laugh it off or get angry. Itās not āOh wow, I actually agree with these points!ā, but āHa ha, thatās a neat trick, like asking someone for Pen 15ā or āThis damn dirty crypto-liberal is trying to trick me with his mind games!ā
See, when that pivot point hits, the conservatives Iāve known all either laugh it off or get angry. Itās not āOh wow, I actually agree with these points!ā, but āHa ha, thatās a neat trick, like asking someone for Pen 15ā or āThis damn dirty crypto-liberal is trying to trick me with his mind games!ā
Practice helps. So does being a stranger thatās visibly working class. I suspect youāve run into a wall for being known and as a āhostileā for being a āliberalā. My best success comes from when I can get around that, one on one. Got a former coworker who still goes to that evangelical church, but watches Democracy Now every day.
But alsoā¦ Yeah, that happens. Sometimes it makes people question their ideas, sometimes weāre sewing seeds for someone else to water. And thatās okay.
In a very real way, we are talking about Christian-style evangelism.
Practice helps. So does being a stranger thatās visibly working class. I suspect youāve run into a wall for being known and as a āhostileā for being a āliberalā.
At the time, I was very much a good young man who never claimed to be anything more than a moderate around these people. Those who knew me largely took it as what we might call ādebatelordingā rather than seriously.
Me, having just led them by the nose to water and watching them not drink: āIām just saying, you have to consider all sides of the issue.ā
āWhatabout whatabout whatabout? Ha ha ha, letās not talk politics anywayā
In any case, I stopped wasting my time years ago, and wear my socialism on my sleeve nowadays.
Those people ate out of Bernieās hand on his fox news town hall.
At that pivot, sometimes before? I like to come out of the closet as a raging Leftist, and promising that I hate Liberals more than my audience does. āI want you to have a fair shot, even if youāve been told Iām the devil.ā I need a context where that wonāt get me shot to pull that out.
āCapitalism just means that everything is owned by those elites that donāt f#$king live here.ā Is one of my favorite lines. It goes well with calling the person in front of me āmy neighbor because I can look you in the eye.ā
Those people ate out of Bernieās hand on his fox news town hall.
Thatās not the same as being convinced. In 2015 and 2016 I was all over Bernieās potential for convincing conservatives, because they seemed receptive - as it wore on, it became increasingly clear that it was the same passing agreement I was familiar with that would be entirely forgotten and reversed by the next hour. Itās the same phenomenon as Trump repeating whatever the last person who spoke to him said.
āCapitalism just means that everything is owned by those elites that donāt f#$king live here.ā Is one of my favorite lines. It goes well with calling the person in front of me āmy neighbor because I can look you in the eye.ā
That pisses people off in my experience, especially with many in the lower-middle class owning land that they donāt live on in Appalachia. Besides, the elite WORKED for that land. Itās basically the same as telling these poor folks that they donāt deserve what THEY work for too! /s
It only pisses them off if they think the elites who own it are filthy liberals - as long as the elites virtual signal about rugged capitalism and Christianity, they get their boots licked even as they raise prices and squeeze an already impoverished community.
My bad, Iāll dig thru your profile for that.
I feel that, and I can relate. Iām less precarious today.
Oh, that? Thatās not what Iām talking about for a motive. But in retrospect, I can see how I read that way.
We have to distinguish between a spectrum of rightwingers - the ones who know the dogwhistles are such, and those who are so uneducated they bought the frame of āsmall governmentā as good in its own right because āeveryone agreesā. Like itās a religion they were raised in.
āHating the elitesā (whatever that means) isnāt a coherent political idea as a result. Having 3 jobs and being pissed that youāre still broke? Thatās a coherent political thought they donāt even have the vocabulary to express.
Is the āelite-hateā just antisemitism pretending to look vaguely leftish? Potentially. Or has this dudebro been so starved of literacy that he takes the dogwhistle unironically, but wonāt connect ābillionaireā with that on his own? This is a spectrum.
Iād rather find and talk to the drive of āwhy am I still poor when I work this hard?ā
If an upscale clothing store manager steps to me talking about āthese kids donāt know how to work,ā Iām acknowledging how exhausted he looks. His is not a life of dignity, and I will say this to him. The education system has failed him through his trainees, and he is being asked to pick up the slack. Where are bank tellers going to come from when kids graduate unable to count money? What kind of AI are data scientists going to build when they donāt understand what each statistics distribution describes?
We are failing to invest in our country, and he will either see how this affects him personally, or he will walk away seething. If he brings up DEI or trans anything, or immigrant crime? I have a one-liner to address it and move back to the real conversation - you work too hard bro, and its because our systems are failing.
Alright, but many of them take a perverse pride in poverty, donāt work three jobs, and quite explicitly love the elite. Like, the level of idolization of rich folk who share their dogwhistles that goes on is insane.
If youāve never seen a Trump flag with Ramboās body on it, count yourself lucky. And itās not a new trend either. Wealth means people are āsmartā and āhardworkingā, unless they start talking all liberal-like. The āelitesā they hate are not the people who drain their meagre wealth away from them, theyāre the people that make them feel insecure - doctors, lawyers, career politicians who donāt suck them off.
Not even, though. Elite hate isnāt a smokescreen for something more nefarious - step back, take in the full view of their position, and it is literally just that - hate for elites. The issue is that the āelitesā they despise are people who make them feel ālesserā intellectually.
And the worst part is, many of these people are not stupid, inherently. But theyāve been raised to see incuriosity about their preconceptions as a virtue. They will simultaneously express what a BADASS REBEL they are by meekly submitting to conservative social norms and what a GOOD UPSTANDING LAW-ABIDING CITIZEN they are for meekly submitting to conservative norms. And if you point it out, they see no contradiction. Which, in practice if not principle, to be fair, I suppose there isnāt.
I flatter myself a bit in saying that I have a bit of an edge in arguments with most people. I used to like to argue, and got very good at it - now I argue out of exhausted obligation and the knowledge that letting points go uncontested in a social circle lets them multiply, which results in very unpleasant social circles. Let me tell you, the insanity of giving gentle pushback and maneuvering a conservative into a position where they state something in reverse of their position (such as from āpoliticians need more powerā to āpoliticians need less powerā) while still maintaining their original position isā¦
1984 had it fucking right, man. The level of people to engage in doublethink is overwhelming.
I suppose I canāt speak to that. My experience is overwhelmingly with poor, rural, religious conservative America.
My experience is varied. Some of the rural folk, but also the men who think theyāre above that, and think Trump will cut their taxes. Evangelicals too.
Iāve even gone off on some religious nut to ārepent his following an Antichrist,ā which spooked him enough to make him leave.
Calling them on that outright rarely does anything, unless we can get someone else to follow up with the same until we wear them down. And they blow up every single time.
See, my first instinct is to call those elites they love? Manipulate Liberals. But that takes work and deep cultural access and context to discern, and I rarely have that.
This is why I usually start with a frame of hating Liberals. Out loud. 5-10 minutes of āsounding like Tuckerā to get them nodding along. Invite them to learn. Whether they do or donāt, make them feel smart for even nodding alongā¦ And then switch the frame when we hit a natural pivot point. It doesnāt work every time, but they at least walk away respecting me for not being an elitist Liberal.
Crystalized as āconservative is the new punk rockā in more recent years. I see that.
This is where I talk about being good neighbors. When my neighbor hurts, it hurts me. And if I can look you in the eye? Youāre my neighbor. I owe you some basic respect simply for you being here. How can I help, neighbor?
My experience is almost solely with the rural and religious. By the time I lived in a place where the suburban middle-class civility politics variant of right-wing ghoul was a significant population, I had gained a much greater ability to be discerning in who I chose to be in my social circle.
Iām honestly of the opinion that 95% of them are unsalvageable by any means.
The point of hammering them on these points is to make them ashamed and quiet again to reduce the spread and acceptance of their vile shite.
You canāt cure the disease, but quarantine can reduce its spread.
Unfortunately, calling the elites that they love āliberalsā or āsocialistsā just gets them angry at you for daring to defame their good holsum corporate masters. Even before Elongated Muskrat was a conservative darling, trying to point out that he was sucking government subsidies at great cost to the taxpayer got many conservatives I spoke with genuinely angry. āYes, heās a businessman, that makes him smart!ā
See, when that pivot point hits, the conservatives Iāve known all either laugh it off or get angry. Itās not āOh wow, I actually agree with these points!ā, but āHa ha, thatās a neat trick, like asking someone for Pen 15ā or āThis damn dirty crypto-liberal is trying to trick me with his mind games!ā
Practice helps. So does being a stranger thatās visibly working class. I suspect youāve run into a wall for being known and as a āhostileā for being a āliberalā. My best success comes from when I can get around that, one on one. Got a former coworker who still goes to that evangelical church, but watches Democracy Now every day.
But alsoā¦ Yeah, that happens. Sometimes it makes people question their ideas, sometimes weāre sewing seeds for someone else to water. And thatās okay.
In a very real way, we are talking about Christian-style evangelism.
At the time, I was very much a good young man who never claimed to be anything more than a moderate around these people. Those who knew me largely took it as what we might call ādebatelordingā rather than seriously.
Me, having just led them by the nose to water and watching them not drink: āIām just saying, you have to consider all sides of the issue.ā
āWhatabout whatabout whatabout? Ha ha ha, letās not talk politics anywayā
In any case, I stopped wasting my time years ago, and wear my socialism on my sleeve nowadays.
Those people ate out of Bernieās hand on his fox news town hall.
At that pivot, sometimes before? I like to come out of the closet as a raging Leftist, and promising that I hate Liberals more than my audience does. āI want you to have a fair shot, even if youāve been told Iām the devil.ā I need a context where that wonāt get me shot to pull that out.
āCapitalism just means that everything is owned by those elites that donāt f#$king live here.ā Is one of my favorite lines. It goes well with calling the person in front of me āmy neighbor because I can look you in the eye.ā
Thatās not the same as being convinced. In 2015 and 2016 I was all over Bernieās potential for convincing conservatives, because they seemed receptive - as it wore on, it became increasingly clear that it was the same passing agreement I was familiar with that would be entirely forgotten and reversed by the next hour. Itās the same phenomenon as Trump repeating whatever the last person who spoke to him said.
That pisses people off in my experience, especially with many in the lower-middle class owning land that they donāt live on in Appalachia. Besides, the elite WORKED for that land. Itās basically the same as telling these poor folks that they donāt deserve what THEY work for too! /s
It only pisses them off if they think the elites who own it are filthy liberals - as long as the elites virtual signal about rugged capitalism and Christianity, they get their boots licked even as they raise prices and squeeze an already impoverished community.
Well, different rhetoric for different locales.
This has been fun!
Next time letās explore how you might bring up some Appalachian history that isnt being taught.