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Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
39,031 posts, read 23,018,776 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TnHilltopper
Ok, well now I can well understand the position you laid out there. Just next time, make your thread title a little more clear as to the content within the thread. I don't mean to seem like I'm being nit picky, but I hope you can understand how it might look from my position. In any event, were groovy, so lets look at this.
Bit bummed by liberals suggesting that you or conservatives in general are incurious, I can understand this, I get tired of it myself from time to time. Especially the whole "tolerance" issue which really means be tolerant with whatever liberals believe that day. Of course it bogus, because neither liberals or conservatives are very tolerant today which leads me to believe that tolerance is something played lip service to more than actually aspired to. After all, shouldn't liberals be "tolerant" of religious folks and shouldn't those following faith's which have tolerance as one of their primary tenets be shown to those who don't believe?
In America today, tolerance being held by one political group or the other is as much a myth as "liberal media" and little more than one more issues for absolutist to bicker over and display their intolerance. In fact your thread here is one example of that and people can't expect to combat intolerance with more intolerance in hopes of finding tolerant people as they are usually off to the side getting a chuckle while they shake their head.
In fact, I find it extremely humorous in a sad sort of way that we live in such a hypocritical society. Be it liberals displaying their intolerance to religious people for their being intolerant, or religious people being intolerant of liberals for their progressive views when their own religious tenets suggest they need be tolerant. It can even be our foreign policy as a nation, where we now rationalize torture because the other guy has used it. In above examples it does show one thing, that people desire to be intolerant as to be accepting of those views and ideas unlike those we hold requires effort and understanding, something we lack in abundance.
The only way to combat this is to offer a hand when a fist is given, I know of no other way.
having an open mind is the process of formulating an opinion.. whether you like to acknowledge it or not.. we're all open minded to a degree... keeping an open mind is a matter of still intaking knowledge and information in defining your opinion... sure.. there is such thing as over-thinking things... which is why many people on the far left don't manage to get anything done.. because they're too busy over-thinking it... but if you're getting lots done by oversimplifying everything.. without thinking and keeping an open mind to some degree.. you are exactly that.. a simpleton.. and in some cases a moron... george bush got lots done.. but did he do it the right way? did he manage to do it the most tactful way? without hurting as many people?? probably not. Whether you want to admit it or not... there is middle ground on this open mind debate.. liberal vs conservative....
Great post Boiseguy....you are so right. If I were to stereotype the right and the left it would be that the left thinks to much (and does to little) and the right thinks to little and does to much. Both hurt the country in the end.
I had never thought about it that way...thanks for your insightful post.
It does remind me of a political comparison I heard many years ago...which generally goes something like this:
A liberal spends hours wining and dining a woman in a fancy restaurant and telling her what a wonderful a lover he is and will be for her. They end up in bed, he puts on his condom and a half hour later she finds that he still can't get it up and decides he's a total failure as a lover.
A conservative meets a woman and takes her to McDonalds for dinner, shares a coke with her and takes her to his place with not much conversation and makes love to her all night long in a splendid fashion....but he forgot to wear a condom and she ends up pregnent.
Kind of the same principal....conservatives don't discuss things to much...they just do it. Liberals talk a lot and discuss ever single point of view...but never get much done....and both end up with a bad end result.
Great post Boiseguy....you are so right. If I were to stereotype the right and the left it would be that the left thinks to much (and does to little) and the right thinks to little and does to much. Both hurt the country in the end.
I had never thought about it that way...thanks for your insightful post.
It does remind me of a political comparison I heard many years ago...which generally goes something like this:
A liberal spends hours wining and dining a woman in a fancy restaurant and telling her what a wonderful a lover he is and will be for her. They end up in bed, he puts on his condom and a half hour later she finds that he still can't get it up and decides he's a total failure as a lover.
A conservative meets a woman and takes her to McDonalds for dinner, shares a coke with her and takes her to his place with not much conversation and makes love to her all night long in a splendid fashion....but he forgot to wear a condom and she ends up pregnent.
Kind of the same principal....conservatives don't discuss things to much...they just do it. Liberals talk a lot and discuss ever single point of view...but never get much done....and both end up with a bad end result.
it is true... which is why academia is full of liberal thinkers.. and many of the business tycoons are conservatives... I think if you know the rules of engagement then you understand things better.
to simply write off academia because it's full of liberals is a moronic closed minded approach..
Many of the professionals in academia aren't so good at going out in the world and making a decision because they are thinkers.. BUT as a student.. being exposed to thinkers is how you gain knowledge.. it is up to us personally to take in the knowledge.. and participate and formulate our own opinions and take out into the world and make something happen. Some people will find out that they love the thinking and return to acedamia as a professional.. others will find great insight, and or solidify their opposing views.. which in turn provides great benefit for going out into the world...
We all have to stand for something at some point.. if you want to write off academia for it's liberalness... you're an idiot... That is why it is important for communication.. when others disagree with us.. If we didn't have liberals.. we wouldn't have great minds and thinkers... but if we didn't have conservatives.. we wouldn't get anything done... I think we all need each other more than you know....
Liberals have a tendency to invent stupid things. Like the internet (not the real internet, just El Goro's version), homosexuality, gray areas in matters where there ARE moral absolutes, political correctness, etc.
But probably the dumbest invention ever created by a liberal was the notion that they somehow have this mythical "open-mind" that causes them to be better human beings than the rest of us "narrow-minded" (simpletons). But your open mind is my laughter, for what goes in your open mind makes you a fool.
"Merely having an open mind is nothing; the object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid."
Wow, knock-out punch. Pretty harsh. However, you do have a good point:
Definition: Liberalism, a political ideology that seeks to maximize individual liberties.
But I keep reading about too many "liberals" who want to take my freedoms away (and I am chagrined by the ones they have already taken from me).
Even on here, I keep reading posts by pretty close-minded "liberals".
I giggle every time I hear someone talk about how liberal California is - seems like they are so often the leader in robbing us of our individual rights.
Last edited by vec101; 12-27-2008 at 05:42 PM..
Reason: typo
I believe I am an open minded person, but as i get older i have have become very conservative both socially and fiscally. Like other have mentioned...many of my liberal friends hate opposing views. Things we always debate on are health care and immigration...when I ask them if they would give up their beach house to pay higher taxes to support the increases in health care costs to uninsured and illegals...they usually do not say anything or their come back is increase corporate taxes...when these corporations leave America then who will fund it ...then they go silent or yap about that won't happen....take a look around...lots of companies are leaving the US because of favorable tax laws.
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
39,031 posts, read 23,018,776 times
Reputation: 36027
Quote:
Originally Posted by icon7
I believe I am an open minded person, but as i get older i have have become very conservative both socially and fiscally. Like other have mentioned...many of my liberal friends hate opposing views. Things we always debate on are health care and immigration...when I ask them if they would give up their beach house to pay higher taxes to support the increases in health care costs to uninsured and illegals...they usually do not say anything or their come back is increase corporate taxes...when these corporations leave America then who will fund it ...then they go silent or yap about that won't happen....take a look around...lots of companies are leaving the US because of favorable tax laws.
A lot of this has to do with the fact that liberal ideas sounds so good but the logistics make those ideas unsound. As many people grow older and become the tax payer, many start analyzing those liberal ideas and come to the realization that these are unsubstainable in the real world.
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In fact your thread here is one example of that and people can't expect to combat intolerance with more intolerance in hopes of finding tolerant people as they are usually off to the side getting a chuckle while they shake their head.
