Politics, And The Type Of Person You Really Are

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I'm glad you've had that experience. I've often found the opposite with autistics, a lot of them are rigid and black and white, and it seems to be part of their nature. I've been guilty of it myself, but it's something I try not to do.

I mean really, the kind of people who are really open-minded have trained themselves to be that way, I think. Or bad enough things happened to them to make them really question themselves and not be afraid to do it. That's my theory anyway. I'm all ears to other theories.

Dillogic, I love disagreement. I was saying in another thread on WP, that receiving new information to me is like a gift. And people tend not to do it because of the chance of offence, which is a real shame. If I ruled the world then everybody would be forced to look really hard at themselves and totally take their world views apart. Think of all the advances that could happen, if that could even be carried out correctly.

I don't mind disagreement at all.

I mind it when it gets personal, though.

You're both totally right (no pun intended). I admit, I've certainly been guilty of the censorship thing, like when in the past discussing feminism on here. That's another topic, though.

I'm so pleased with this thread, I was worried I wasn't going to get any responses or to be misunderstood, but you people totally get what I've seen, and there actually seems to be a pattern. I can't talk about any of this type of thing to most people I know IRL. It's actually cheered me up quite a lot. I mean, it's kinda like mental masturbation when so many people tell you that you're correct about something, but you people aren't just automatically agreeing with me.

I think I'm just so used to growing up with people around me telling me X is wrong and Y is right and it's just confused me and made me think I must then be a bad person. I mean politics isn't the only thing I've been judged for in this way. Morals generally are just so rigid. The worst is when someone who makes themselves out to be the good guy all the time can do something mean and then carry it off because they and their followers have stated that they're good, therefore they can do no wrong. There's people on this forum who are most certainly like that. Yes, I'm probably going on a tangent now..

That seems to be the definition of Trump's followers... so much so they often assume I'm somehow amazed by Clinton, even though I just hate his demagoguery.

What's the sample size of your friends, smudge?

The far left mob, I've seen the argument recently that a number of them, it defines who they are. And that's why they go batshit in the face of other opposing views, because you're not just attacking their ideas, you're attacking them.

I've seen loads of videos of lefties just losing it, but not one of their equivalents on the right. If anyone has one, I'd be interested to see, but it doesn't seem like righties let it define them like some lefties do. Would be interested to hear thoughts on this.

OP, you're right. If you see someone with, say, a TRUMP 2016 bumper sticker, that doesn't tell you anything about their character. Don't judge people based on such labels they might be wearing or tell you. It doesn't have to be about sides and everyone else is the enemy. This is something the right seem to understand better than the left, in my own limited experience. The OPs story about his right friends being there for him when needed despite being a lefty sadly does not surprise me.

I think there are a lot of right wingers that let it define them far too much, I don't agree that it only exists on the left.

Do you think it exists any more on one side than the other?

Also, considering almost everything nowadays is political, it can lead to basic differing opinions being a trigger for how others view you.

For example, if I think Caitlyn Jenner is a man and refer to him as a he, I'm going to be the absolute worst person in the world to many, and that my opinion here should be silenced as it's "hate speech", even though I've wished no harm or ill will to her; I just think you can't change your sex (it sucks, but that's life). They will dislike me simply because of this.

Which is one problem with leftism (state encroaching upon what's "right" and "wrong" for simple opinions). It's the same with the religious type of right and making laws based on scripture.

I think you've hit the nail on the head there.

As for my sex, I'm female. I identify myself as mostly genderless, but toward the feminine side. I definitely look female IRL and dress as such because it's more interesting. My avatars usually being male have confused many people, and I see why. Avatars are used as identification and at least in my mind it reflects partly who you are. I chose the username, "smudge" because it didn't sound feminine. It wasn't a feminist point or anything, but because I felt more comfortable with it being away from femininity. Something about femininity makes me a bit uncomfortable. I *think* it's the emotional side of it, but I've never been able to put my finger on what it is exactly.

Dillogic, I understand where you're coming from. I also understand at least from my experience (and as has been highlighted by you and others in this thread), that identity provokes strong emotions in people, and when it is rocked it causes a lot of emotional upset. It's a subject that I can't even talk about most of the time. None of my family know about it, I've only ever disclosed it briefly to a couple of friends. I'm a very private person.

I don't think it has anything to do with politics. I think what you're describing is a pre-existing worldview onto which politics of any sort can be layered. Like a folk song, where the lyrics can change but the melody stays the same. Some people flip from one end of the political spectrum to the other, but their worldview - a need for certainty, and to project all the bad s**t onto Those People - hasn't changed a bit.

I think such people are more noticeable because such a black/white either/or us/them binary view is easier to convey and rally around than a more nuanced one, and any political group will have its enemy, its opposite, and before too long its not hard to find all good on the side of those you agree with, and all bad on the side of those you disagree with.

I'm pretty far left. I suppose I'd call myself a socialist-anarchist - my present interest is in dispersing power as much as possible. But I enjoy and appreciate talking to intelligent conservatives more than slogany leftists. I don't have much interest in or time for black/white thinking that lacks nuance, and I can't stand certainty, in myself or others.

Fewer lines. More circles.

Up, down, left, right, x,y, and whatever else people want to catagorize. All of those differences does not prove that anyone knows exactly what the hell is going on. I can believe this. Some have done studies that prove to them that over 95% of the population, are a subject of brainwashing, mind control, and hypnotism. Whatever it is you think you are probably is not you. It's a projection that you accept. Face the fact that you are just a part of one big lab coat experiment (milgram). Born, raised, and traned to obey. There is only about 2% of the population that actually have a mind of their own, that cannot be subdued (which one are you?) and they usually need to hide, get abused into submission, or commit suicide. People don't create anything. They just use what is already here. Politics is a foolish thing. Most all would be lost without it, and just make a bigger mess. Humans are stupid.

For me, it's the idea that we should fit some sort of conformist stereotype. Center-right people have it the worst.

Not particularly, seems to be a lot of it on both sides.

At this moment, I am to the right of things. I'm actually an Independent and have been to the Left in my earlier days of voting. My Ma is also to the Right and my brother is to the Left. We just know not to discuss politics with my brother. I also have friends at this moment who are to the Right and to the Left. I actually only talk politics with my Right friends. I have had friends that are to the Left (20+ years) and just would not let go of talking about politics with me - it ended badly and we are no longer friends. There just is no really good way to carry on a friendship after someone has called you a racist, bigot and a MF.

What I find really interesting is that during our entire 20+ year friendship, we NEVER spoke about politics until Mr. AW got into the Whitehouse - the president that was supposed to bring everyone so close together has done more to tear this country apart than any other president during my lifetime. I thought those 20+year friendships would last forever. Politics sure does bring out the worst in people.

What does Mr. AW mean exactly?

AW = Asswipe, referring to Obama.