Talking With Lefties

Posted by $ Abaco 9 years, 9 months ago to Politics
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Living here in the fray in California I have been having regular interaction with naïve lefties. It's challenging. They are really out of sorts post-election. I find myself repeating the same stuff trying to talk them off the ledge (hey...it's all we got out here and I like some of these folks) so I thought I'd share. I like to remind them that if America doesn't like Trump they can vote for somebody else in just four years. When they start to get wound up about racist organizations running through our streets I remind them to turn off the tv and go by what they see with their own eyes. When they attack their spouses and/or alienate their children due to differing political views I remind them that family is so important and that challenging times are when we pull the ones we love closer, not push them away. When they complain about Trump saving 1000 jobs at Carrier I simply ask, "Would you prefer that those jobs leave?" - and wait patiently for them to process what I just said. When they talk about cops killing people I ask what Obama said about those instances, and that we should wait to see what Trump does when it happens again (because it will soon enough, don't you worry) - then we can judge. I remind them that he's not even in office yet...so you'll have to wait to impeach him.

Just thought I'd share my experiences in the trenches out here on the left coast with the hope that some of you may use my new skills...

All Comments

  • Posted by LibertyBelle 9 years, 9 months ago
    I don't consider Trump a free-enterprise man, al-
    though I voted for him, considering the alternative.
    I'm not all enthused about what he did for Carrier; it seems to me that he bribed those business owners;it would be good to cut taxes and regulations across the board. Anyhow,
    it seems to me that the "Lefties" have been much poorer sports that the "Right-wingers".
    Neither is fully for freedom. Even though I am
    glad to see them defeated, we need the Demo-
    crats. We can't trust the Republicans always to
    respect individual rights; when they get in power,
    they start acting like Democrats; in a two-party
    system, at least they kind of help keep each
    other in line.
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  • Posted by voodoo59 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I am also tired of trying to untrain the leftist acolytes. They will NEVER change. Same bad ideas (usually big government will save the day) and same attitude (if you disagree we will use big government to make you agree). The more of these leftist nuts that leave the country (fat chance) the better!
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 9 years, 9 months ago
    "to turn off the tv"
    Yes! Their goal is to get your attention while passing by in the gym and get you fired up about nothing.

    "Would you prefer that those jobs leave?"
    I know I certainly would prefer gov't stayed out of it. Jobs aren't like meal tickets with a fixed supply that must be doled out carefully. They're people doing stuff to help other people for money. They change. When you find a way to serve customers in a new way, it destroys jobs and creates new ones.
    " I ask what Obama said about those instances"
    This is one good thing about electing Trump -- People will go back to protesting the same things President Obama and President Bush did, which I think is a good thing.
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  • Posted by strugatsky 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Yes, exactly. In this case, of course, the amazing part is that these morons go to college to become so stupid. Perhaps even more amazing is that their parents give up their life-savings to pay for those colleges. Question - who's the stupidest of them all?
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  • Posted by $ Abaco 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Reminds me of Saipan. Many years ago I tossed a note in a bottle overboard on a fishing trip and it crossed the Pacific and ended up being found in Saipan. I started reading about Saipan. You know that at the end of WWII when the Japanese there saw our war ships approaching, many of them threw their families off a cliff at the north end of the island because they had been convinced that our military would torture and eat them.
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  • Posted by Herb7734 9 years, 9 months ago
    I used to be like you, dear abaco. As a matter of fact right up until a few months ago. But the Trump excursion into campaigning taught me that trying to change the "minds" of lefties was a waste of time. Time being a precious commodity to a guy my age I now refuse to dribble it away on those whose irrationality, ambiguity, and downright concretized idiocy is exhibited in political conversation.
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  • Posted by EdGoldstein 9 years, 9 months ago
    I must admit I am having far to much fun watching them emote their ignorance. I start laughing in their faces when one of them goes ballistic. Then I gently tell them the world is starting to right itself and come out of the insanity that Obama has made normal. That they too will recover their minds as Trump's program starts to grow the economy again. Usually it does no good and they just yell at me. Which starts me laughing again.
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  • Posted by ycandrea 9 years, 9 months ago
    My sister is a flaming liberal, but I love her so much. We have been best friends for 66 years with almost twenty of those first years without a well-defined value heirarchy. We have had many fights as we have become more set in our moral codes, but my value for her seems to out-weigh the fact that she is so lost in her moral code. She is still the person I grew up with, through thick and thin she has always been a rock for me and I for her. We have decided not to talk politics,(even though I know it is our values we are differing on). Our husbands are greatly pleased with this decision as they were always caught in the crossfire! What a paradox, huh? :-)
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  • Posted by strugatsky 9 years, 9 months ago
    The hysteria that has overtaken the Left's minions is very much akin to the hysteria that was created by Goebbels and his propaganda machine when the Russians were entering Germany at the end of WW II. The goal was to generate resistance from every house, every family, every person who was not even drafted into the Army. After all, those people were looked on as waste and if they could be convinced to kill one Russian at the price of a few dozen otherwise useless Germans, that was seen as a good deal. Well, the propaganda was often taken literally and many fanatical Germans committed suicide when the Russians entered. Ah, where is Dr. Goebbels when he's most needed?
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  • Posted by term2 9 years, 9 months ago
    discussing political things with liberals is a waste of time. They are too far out of touch.
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  • Posted by ProfChuck 9 years, 9 months ago
    Liberalism is a religion. Like any other religion there is no requirement for logical thought or objective analysis. In fact, logic and objectivity are the enemy of faith based belief systems. It is essential that you believe, understanding is unnecessary and is usually deemed to be heretical. Those who believe are saints and those who question are sinners.
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  • Posted by DrZarkov99 9 years, 9 months ago
    Most of my relatives are liberal, but thankfully not the angry, irrational kind. They fall into the group I call the educable few, and we have amicable discussions about issues now and then. My brother in law even jokes about how I don't debate fairly, using facts and logic. Civil discourse is actually possible, and I usually enter these discussions asking them what results they want to see. Without fail that forces them to focus on reality rather than emotions and intentions. I point out to them that we usually have the same results in mind, but differ primarily on the method of getting there.
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  • Posted by $ allosaur 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Me dino can just see a smugly smiling Divider-In-Chief seated in the Oval Office
    with his oft times photographed chin held high in the air saying, "My work here is done."
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  • Posted by GaryL 9 years, 9 months ago
    You are a better man than I Abaco! At first I assess just how left an individual is. Once I am able to determine I can't fix stupid I no longer bother trying.
    Thanksgiving at my family gathering was a very interesting day with a few of the 20 somethings still sulking and many more of the mature adults wearing shit eating grins!
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  • Posted by khalling 9 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    this was always a personal favorite of mine and should be useful when debating others to keep in mind: "Judge of a man by his questions rather than by his answers."
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  • Posted by gpecaut 9 years, 9 months ago
    I talk with alot of "Lefties" too, as I am in the LA area every other day. They do not THINK! They want increased wages, but no price increases. They want more welfare, but not more taxes. They want more jobs, but not in their back yards. They want lower utility bills, but no nuclear, coal or other CO2 producing power plants. They want cheap gasoline, but no drilling and no refineries. They want less traffic, but no new roads or trucks on their roads.
    They have very beautiful ideas, just no idea what has to be to done to acquire those ideas.
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  • Posted by bbuckeye 9 years, 9 months ago
    One must always remember that when talking to a Leftist you are talking to someone who essentially makes decisions emotionally, not logically.
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  • Posted by mia767ca 9 years, 9 months ago
    always define the words you will be using in any debates and discussions....that is where the battle is won or lost...

    otherwise, resort to rule #1...never argue with a crazy person...
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