this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2024
349 points (98.6% liked)

politics

19097 readers
3739 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.

Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.

Example:

  1. Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
  2. Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
  3. No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
  4. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
  5. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

Register To Vote

Citizenship Resource Center

Congressional Awards Program

Federal Government Agencies

Library of Congress Legislative Resources

The White House

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

News

World News

Business News

Political Discussion

Ask Politics

Military News

Global Politics

Moderate Politics

Progressive Politics

UK Politics

Canadian Politics

Australian Politics

New Zealand Politics

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I want to believe that anyone can be become smarter, even republican voters.

Don't get me wrong. I firmly believe that there has to be a path to redemption. That path exists. All anyone who is missing the point has to do is think about literally anyone besides themselves. I can't make anyone do that. That is not, and cannot, be my problem to solve.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

No one can ever make anyone do or learn anything. That's the teachers curse. Understanding only comes when a person themselves understands it themselves.

The best you can do is to keep questioning them until they at least think about it, and that's all I ask you to consider doing.

Someone tells racist shit? Ask them why?
Your uncle doesn't want universal healthcare? Ask him why?
You mother doesn't want student loans forgiven? Ask her why?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Because it'll make them think about it, and them thinking is what is needed.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I'm not interested in having, for example, a racist defend their racism to me. Nor am I interested in giving them the opportunity to firm up their own wrong-headed conceptions through the action of defending them.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

That is the point. Nobody can defend racism. Do not sit in silent agreement, question it instead.

You will hear a lot of garbage, but you don't have to agree, just listen and ask.

They'll come back with all kinds of excuses or argumens.. "I feel like.." , "I've heard that everyone says" or point to sources of statementd etc..

You can question all of it, until they start questioning themselves why they're listening to those sources in the first place. Again, don't push it, just let them come back with whatever argument they've found and then question it. If you do it in a civil way, they'll eventually start thinking or asking for your opinion.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I refer you to my previous comment.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Answering the last part of your previous comment:

They will only firm up their own opinion if you start arguing.

As soon as you say "you're wrong because ABC and D argument", *that's when they dig into their opinion and make up reasoning to protect their view.

Questioning doesn't do that. It's a fine way to allow people to reason themselves out of the hole the dug into.