- Re: Derek, I wish I'd read that before I invested so much effort in that "Some ideas, Derek" post. nm Archived Message
Posted by dereklane
on May 21, 2020, 12:37 am, in reply to "Derek, I wish I'd read that before I invested so much effort in that "Some ideas, Derek" post. nm "
And I wish I'd read your response above before posting this. It turns out that you're ok sometimes Look, I'm stressed by this whole thing, and I'm kind of worn down by people's certainty that their opinions are the only ones worth a dime. Your posts (but not just yours by any stretch) come across that way a lot. I don't know what I think but I do know how I'm feeling. I firmly believe that none of us will ever change a damn thing for the better while we hold onto our egos and our intellect as being sacrosanct in any given discussion. More and more these days (last few years) ive found that people who on the surface stand for all the things I believe generally can be some of the most hard headed and angry people I meet. I just don't think it's helpful if our goal really is to change things for the better. Common ground is more important from what I can tell than being right (or having better info, done better research as you mentioned in a post somewhere in the last couple of days). That stuff (I gave up on little activist groups a few years back because of it) is real Middle class middle management hobby stuff as you pointed out. What matters to people is people. Common ground, love, acceptance all that stuff. With it (and patient humility) you can change minds and cause action. With righteousness, you can merely preach to the converted. Some might say that approach takes too long but as you pointed out, all the slight benefits we've got over the long years have been tools to keep the pot from boiling over; a tool in the tool box of power rather than a hard win for the left. So, maybe a different approach is needed? Like protestors protesting neo nazis, all they do is give air and credence to the hate by recycling it... I'm not pinning it all on you btw, just noticed that a few things on here over the last few years have descended into a massive spiral because someone disagrees angrily over a detail without keeping in mind common ground. There's so much bitterness and ego flexing even on a relatively benign site like this it doesn't give me much hope for real (positive) change in the actual world. It often seems like denominational religion all over again. Btw, if I ask these questions, it's because I'm seeing that stuff in your posts or others (and I honestly am looking for more in depth answers rather than any passive aggressive slant). If I want to be aggressive I'll tell you to #### off, but I'm not interested in doing that (and I wouldn't take offence if you told me to anyway), and very rarely do it in real life. I read mostly what you write, because it interests me. My questions are sincere, and everything I write is. I think quite a bit before writing, and very often get to the end of something and decide not to post it. The problem with the medium is that is not always easy to convey sincerity. I suspect it might go both ways. Cheers, Derek |