I wish there were more of us. I've gotten into disagreements as often with friends on the Left as I have with people on the Right. It feels lonely and discomfiting not being a member of a large team (Dems/liberals versus Repubs/conservatives). But I refuse to be beholden to a team playbook. So, I accept being lonely. Although, there may be far more people in the middle than I realize. I honestly don't know.
People seem to naturally gravitate towards one team or the other, being subject to that pull that our binary brains naturally creates for us. It's almost unnatural to resist that natural impulse, and it takes a lot more work. Eschewing CNN or FOX would be like leaving their religion, I suspect, for many people. We all want to be told what to think, and gravitate towards the narrative that we, by virtue of in-born preferences, find more appealing. It's just easier.
I would suggest paying more attention to Douglas Murray, Coleman Hughes, "The Goodfellows" (Hoover Institute), Bari Weiss and several others (Centrists, old fashioned Liberals, Middle Conservatives). Actually most of the faculty of the new University of Austin. Read their books or watch some podcasts, lectures & especially group debates on YouTube and you won't be quite so lonely.
I'm way ahead of you. Been following these people, and plenty of others, for years now.
It's the people I know--neighbors, friends, acquaintances--that I feel so little connection with. They are knowingly or unknowingly hard Left or hard Right. Even if I make comments on youtbube or on yahoo following an article, I get attacked for my views more often than I get agreement. They either watch FOX or CNN and MSNBC and accept that what they are hearing is the truth and is reasonable reporting and opinion.
"I don't even know what WOKE is!", one close friend has exclaimed to me, while I prattled on about something that WOKE has damaged in society. It's always his way of saying that I am crazy, and that WOKE is simply a fabrication of the Right.
And the few times I have made a feeble and fruitless attempt to explain the phenomenon in the context of our conversation, he never accepts what I say. He and his wife believe that they are good liberals for accepting the new orthodoxy spewed by modern liberal (leftist) print and TV media. They don't know what they don't know.
It's incredibly frustrating. And at times, I even doubt myself on my own beliefs and conclusions--which are evolving all the time as I learn new information about some new crisis or other. I start to wonder that maybe I am the one who is wrong, and that the throngs of those who do accept the orthodoxy of their tribe are the ones who have it correct.
It's tough going it alone is what I have learned. By "alone", I mean no longer being a part of a tribe, per se. No longer having that certainty that you're correct and righteous and pure. That you're on "the good team".
I feel your pain. I have similar problems with those I associate with. Either they can see the subtleties or are too entrenched. Usually it's "this is why we don't talk politics". Most don't have the time or inclination to even try out those we mentioned above. I go long periods without posting a comment.
Certainly, I have considered that most people don't want to spend hours each day or week reading or listening to different views on relevant or salient cultural and political phenomena. And to be fair, most people don't have the time, as you have pointed out.
Not talking politics is probably the best approach. I have neighbors in my new neighborhood (two years this September) who are so inclined. I have only ever had one politically themed discussion with any of them, and it was the day after the attempted assassination of Trump. Most of them avoid politics--even at the recent neighborhood party we had some weeks ago.
In my old neighborhood, it was mostly made up of libs, and they were very vocal given any opportunity to be so. And years ago, I used to be one of them. But over some four to five year while living there, I came to see many of them as too far to the left, and too acting too much like tribe members. It was the coronavirus that brought that to the fore the most. And it was over mask wearing, initially, that made me aware of how contagious behavior can be. For example, I was chided by a neighbor while in the midst of an outdoor neighborhood activity for not wearing a mask. Everyone else was dutifully showing their party affiliation by wearing their masks. We were all keeping our distances from each other (typically 20' or more), and we were OUTSIDE. And this was fall of 2020 when there was more known about the virus than in the early spring. By the fall, if you were paying attention to the latest information, you knew that being outside was the safest place to be to avoid catching COVID. But no matter. If you were a proper liberal, you wore a mask even if you were alone in your car!
So, I'd become ever more disenfranchised by people too proudly on the left-- that, and the BLM signs in their yards to further reinforce their team loyalty. It became too much. I'm happier where I am now, because the people here keep their politics, mostly, to themselves. One guy a few houses down has a political style sign hanging in his garage that states, "F*ck Biden!" At least it's not in his front yard. And he is a renter. The rest of use own our homes.
Thanks for the conversation. I believe many if not most wanted to be tribe members, fearful of being cancelled and would possibly not be so liberal if directly affected. Enough said.
It seems that we've had a similar journey. Thank you for your post 👍🏻
I wish there were more of us. I've gotten into disagreements as often with friends on the Left as I have with people on the Right. It feels lonely and discomfiting not being a member of a large team (Dems/liberals versus Repubs/conservatives). But I refuse to be beholden to a team playbook. So, I accept being lonely. Although, there may be far more people in the middle than I realize. I honestly don't know.
People seem to naturally gravitate towards one team or the other, being subject to that pull that our binary brains naturally creates for us. It's almost unnatural to resist that natural impulse, and it takes a lot more work. Eschewing CNN or FOX would be like leaving their religion, I suspect, for many people. We all want to be told what to think, and gravitate towards the narrative that we, by virtue of in-born preferences, find more appealing. It's just easier.
I would suggest paying more attention to Douglas Murray, Coleman Hughes, "The Goodfellows" (Hoover Institute), Bari Weiss and several others (Centrists, old fashioned Liberals, Middle Conservatives). Actually most of the faculty of the new University of Austin. Read their books or watch some podcasts, lectures & especially group debates on YouTube and you won't be quite so lonely.
I'm way ahead of you. Been following these people, and plenty of others, for years now.
It's the people I know--neighbors, friends, acquaintances--that I feel so little connection with. They are knowingly or unknowingly hard Left or hard Right. Even if I make comments on youtbube or on yahoo following an article, I get attacked for my views more often than I get agreement. They either watch FOX or CNN and MSNBC and accept that what they are hearing is the truth and is reasonable reporting and opinion.
"I don't even know what WOKE is!", one close friend has exclaimed to me, while I prattled on about something that WOKE has damaged in society. It's always his way of saying that I am crazy, and that WOKE is simply a fabrication of the Right.
And the few times I have made a feeble and fruitless attempt to explain the phenomenon in the context of our conversation, he never accepts what I say. He and his wife believe that they are good liberals for accepting the new orthodoxy spewed by modern liberal (leftist) print and TV media. They don't know what they don't know.
It's incredibly frustrating. And at times, I even doubt myself on my own beliefs and conclusions--which are evolving all the time as I learn new information about some new crisis or other. I start to wonder that maybe I am the one who is wrong, and that the throngs of those who do accept the orthodoxy of their tribe are the ones who have it correct.
It's tough going it alone is what I have learned. By "alone", I mean no longer being a part of a tribe, per se. No longer having that certainty that you're correct and righteous and pure. That you're on "the good team".
I feel your pain. I have similar problems with those I associate with. Either they can see the subtleties or are too entrenched. Usually it's "this is why we don't talk politics". Most don't have the time or inclination to even try out those we mentioned above. I go long periods without posting a comment.
Certainly, I have considered that most people don't want to spend hours each day or week reading or listening to different views on relevant or salient cultural and political phenomena. And to be fair, most people don't have the time, as you have pointed out.
Not talking politics is probably the best approach. I have neighbors in my new neighborhood (two years this September) who are so inclined. I have only ever had one politically themed discussion with any of them, and it was the day after the attempted assassination of Trump. Most of them avoid politics--even at the recent neighborhood party we had some weeks ago.
In my old neighborhood, it was mostly made up of libs, and they were very vocal given any opportunity to be so. And years ago, I used to be one of them. But over some four to five year while living there, I came to see many of them as too far to the left, and too acting too much like tribe members. It was the coronavirus that brought that to the fore the most. And it was over mask wearing, initially, that made me aware of how contagious behavior can be. For example, I was chided by a neighbor while in the midst of an outdoor neighborhood activity for not wearing a mask. Everyone else was dutifully showing their party affiliation by wearing their masks. We were all keeping our distances from each other (typically 20' or more), and we were OUTSIDE. And this was fall of 2020 when there was more known about the virus than in the early spring. By the fall, if you were paying attention to the latest information, you knew that being outside was the safest place to be to avoid catching COVID. But no matter. If you were a proper liberal, you wore a mask even if you were alone in your car!
So, I'd become ever more disenfranchised by people too proudly on the left-- that, and the BLM signs in their yards to further reinforce their team loyalty. It became too much. I'm happier where I am now, because the people here keep their politics, mostly, to themselves. One guy a few houses down has a political style sign hanging in his garage that states, "F*ck Biden!" At least it's not in his front yard. And he is a renter. The rest of use own our homes.
OK, my fingers are sore. Over and out.
Thanks for the conversation. I believe many if not most wanted to be tribe members, fearful of being cancelled and would possibly not be so liberal if directly affected. Enough said.