Monday, December 25, 2017

"A Fundamental Divide On What It Means To Live In A Society"

Some people think you should converse (or even debate) with people whose beliefs differ from yours.

I do not agree. I do not need to 'stay informed' of what the other side thinks. (Those beliefs are everywhere, they are part of the atmosphere, and I will absorb them without even trying.) I do not believe it is healthy for me to listen to words that will only disgust or depress or frustrate or anger me.

I do not need to eat shit in order to better understand (or reinforce my love of) my favourite foods. I know how I feel and I am not so presumptuous as to think my words will change anyone's mind. So, really, what is the point?

Kayla Chadwick:
I'm perfectly content to pay taxes that go toward public schools, even though I'm childless and intend to stay that way, because all children deserve a quality, free education. If this seems unfair or unreasonable to you, we are never going to see eye to eye.

If I have to pay a little more with each paycheck to ensure my fellow Americans can access health care? SIGN ME UP. Poverty should not be a death sentence in the richest country in the world. If you're okay with thousands of people dying of treatable diseases just so the wealthiest among us can hoard still more wealth, there is a divide between our worldviews that can never be bridged.

I don't know how to convince someone how to experience the basic human emotion of empathy. ... Our disagreement is not merely political, but a fundamental divide on what it means to live in a society, how to be a good person ...

I'm done trying to convince these hordes of selfish, cruel people to look beyond themselves.

1 comment:

laura k said...

Hear, hear!

Once in a while, I meet someone who seems to have an open mind and truly wants to learn about another point of view. I will take that opportunity for education. But an adult whose point of view is completely opposed to mine? What purpose can that serve, except to make me frustrated and disgusted?