I'm going to put this here since it addresses Steve's Commentary topic and could be placed in more than one of the sub threads here. The culture wars are tribal and politically partisan, something I am known to not care for. The tribes have a checklist of things you must agree with/stand for to maintain good membership status. Those thin…
I'm going to put this here since it addresses Steve's Commentary topic and could be placed in more than one of the sub threads here.
The culture wars are tribal and politically partisan, something I am known to not care for. The tribes have a checklist of things you must agree with/stand for to maintain good membership status. Those things (issues) often have no relationship and depending on the issue I may tilt in either direction. While you may see more of this or that within selected tribes, they are not monolithic. That is probably truer than we think because people are afraid to speak their minds. Making an example of myself, I have a significant amount of extended family who are devout Christians. While I won't lie about it, I tend to just leave the subject alone because my thoughts on it would be offensive. Why the hell would I do that with family. I am in no way unique which is why I think that is a valid example.
Why did I mention proxy wars? They pertain to the two issues that I think make other issues equivalent to a pimple on an elephant's ass.
WAR: China is preparing for war in every possible way. We will be at war with them, and they will defeat us because we have foolishly blunted the armory and depleted the treasury. A bipartisan disaster.
FISCAL IRRESPONSIBILITY: Omnibus spending bills. In the dark of night without possibility of being read and understood our politicians sign on to massive debt for things that could never pass in the light of day. They give all of America the finger as they seal our fate with mockery of our so-called democracy. There will be a day of reconning, and it will be the collapse of the nation. It would be easy to blame the Ds but they do it with the willing cooperation of the Rs.
That's the politicians and the inevitable doom that they bring, but the culture war is taking place with the general population. During the course of my lifetime, I've been a dirty job trailer trash guy at the edge of town in the south. A clean job in a nice house guy. Lived around and befriended the uneducated and highly educated. The hard left & right and those in between. I know them and I can sit peacefully at a table with any of them and it is probably at the root of my disdain for partisan culture wars. I don't despise people for holding ideas that I don't agree with. People can be influenced with nuance and more complete information, unless they are hard core left or right.
Debate about which tribe's assholes are worse is the culture war Steve is seeking to dismantle. It gets us nowhere useful unless we want to go to war and kill each other. That would get us somewhere. Somewhere no rational person wishes to be.
Who's worse? Which issue? I don't wish to participate in that.
I'm going to put this here since it addresses Steve's Commentary topic and could be placed in more than one of the sub threads here.
The culture wars are tribal and politically partisan, something I am known to not care for. The tribes have a checklist of things you must agree with/stand for to maintain good membership status. Those things (issues) often have no relationship and depending on the issue I may tilt in either direction. While you may see more of this or that within selected tribes, they are not monolithic. That is probably truer than we think because people are afraid to speak their minds. Making an example of myself, I have a significant amount of extended family who are devout Christians. While I won't lie about it, I tend to just leave the subject alone because my thoughts on it would be offensive. Why the hell would I do that with family. I am in no way unique which is why I think that is a valid example.
Why did I mention proxy wars? They pertain to the two issues that I think make other issues equivalent to a pimple on an elephant's ass.
WAR: China is preparing for war in every possible way. We will be at war with them, and they will defeat us because we have foolishly blunted the armory and depleted the treasury. A bipartisan disaster.
FISCAL IRRESPONSIBILITY: Omnibus spending bills. In the dark of night without possibility of being read and understood our politicians sign on to massive debt for things that could never pass in the light of day. They give all of America the finger as they seal our fate with mockery of our so-called democracy. There will be a day of reconning, and it will be the collapse of the nation. It would be easy to blame the Ds but they do it with the willing cooperation of the Rs.
That's the politicians and the inevitable doom that they bring, but the culture war is taking place with the general population. During the course of my lifetime, I've been a dirty job trailer trash guy at the edge of town in the south. A clean job in a nice house guy. Lived around and befriended the uneducated and highly educated. The hard left & right and those in between. I know them and I can sit peacefully at a table with any of them and it is probably at the root of my disdain for partisan culture wars. I don't despise people for holding ideas that I don't agree with. People can be influenced with nuance and more complete information, unless they are hard core left or right.
Debate about which tribe's assholes are worse is the culture war Steve is seeking to dismantle. It gets us nowhere useful unless we want to go to war and kill each other. That would get us somewhere. Somewhere no rational person wishes to be.
Who's worse? Which issue? I don't wish to participate in that.