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What would you do? What would John Galt do?

Posted by dbhalling 10 years, 9 months ago to Politics
314 comments | Share | Best of... | Flag

You walk into a small beach bar on the ocean and a guy is sitting there. You have met him at this establishment before so you sit down near him and strike up a conversation. This is the sort of bar where patrons generally talk freely amongst each other. The man was in politics years ago in Kansas and occasionally brings up political topics. You know that his opinions are all over the map and have even moved to the pool table in the sand in order to not listen to him before. You try to steer the conversation away from politics, but he is not deterred. Then he says:
1) He is for raising the minimum wage
What would you do?
2) He states that minimum wage will not affect unemployment and the law of supply and demand has been repealed.
What would you do?
3) Then he says Obamacare is great.
WWYD?
4) After explaining that the only areas were the cost of medical has gone down are those the government stayed out of (e.g., Laser correction surgery), he says we are the only advanced nation without nationalized health care.
WWYD?
5) Then he says kathleen sebelius, who is from Kansas, is a wonderful women.
6) Then he calls you a racist, because you state Obama has the same philosophy Stalin, Moa, Hilter, etc.
7) Then he states we should get rid of the Constitution.
WWYD?

All Comments

Previous comments...   You are currently on page 11.
  • Posted by richrobinson 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    True. I used to "shrug" my shoulders and think what difference does it make. I now realize what a big difference it makes.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Elsewhere in this thread, a few minutes ago, I said that, if one is going to be confrontational, one must use an unconventional approach to get the equivalent of a one-punch knockout. If it gets to the point where two people are bickering, everyone loses. I am going to think long and hard about this one. I want that one-punch knockout in my arsenal the next time the situation arises (and it will and in fact has before).
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  • Posted by LetsShrug 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    As I was typing this the door bell rang and it was the Bob Worsley guy again with a girl in tow (both with clip boards)... (also I might mention I was annoyed that the door bell rang because my husband is trying to get some sleep before work and the dogs went into orbit barking!), so once he said Bob Worlsey I said, "I won't vote for someone who voted for Common Core." He said, "It's not that he voted FOR Common Core it's that he voted against repealing it." I said, "Why didn't he vote to repeal it?" He said, "Because we need a set of standards and we're 48th in the country." (Which I need to check but I don't think that's true...) I said, "Then we fix that ourselves, we don't get the federal government involved." And he said, "But we haven't been fixing it." I said, "Why not?? When you bring in the government to teach kids how to think that never works out well, check history." (The girl looked at me like I had three heads)... He said, "It's not that teacher teach kids how to think (?!)--" I interrupted here and said, "The teachers teach them how to think to pass THEIR tests. Bob voted for Common Core I won't vote for HIM, republican or not." They thanked me and left.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Figuring out how to do a one-punch knockout in that sort of situation is something that I am going to need to think thoroughly about before I get into a similar situation. I have a similar situation to db every two or three years.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Winning such arguments is best done by employing unconventional means, by surprising them. If you can spontaneously come up with something that is sufficiently suprising to win the argument with one statement or action, then that is effective. Such a situation requires the equivalent of a one-punch knockout.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I get myself into more than enough of such arguments outside the Gulch. I just complimented db as our Patrick Henry. What does that make you, LetsShrug? I really am trying to come up with a comparison that is sufficiently favorable. Dagny?
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  • Posted by LetsShrug 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    You can get mad and remain calm and rational in a discussion. But changing the subject or avoiding the debate won't win anything. Weird...we both used the word cowardice at the same time.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    When I went to Williamsburg, VA last week on vacation, I had a chance to hear a 20 minute long speech from "Patrick Henry" in what was supposed to be his final speech as Virginia governor before Jefferson took over. Patrick Henry was term limited to three one-year terms. db, you are our Patrick Henry here in the Gulch. I can think of no higher compliment.
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  • Posted by LetsShrug 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I'm willing to bet they've said the wrong thing already. You're just getting more aware and gutsy in the mean time.
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  • Posted by LetsShrug 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    j! Being gentlemanly is great, but the time has come to stop the silence...it's deadly, literally! What you're suggesting is exactly what most Germans did.... let's learn from them...they have much to teach us. Their civility got them starved in a camp in the end. Polite silence doesn't always have a place at the table....there's too much at stake.. (or steak...but don't tell db cuz he'll take it when things get heated.)
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  • Posted by dbhalling 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    That reminds me of the movie The Ugly Truth, where she says "you are too stupid to know how far I fallen, because you don't get the references."
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 10 years, 9 months ago
    This question is similar to asking whether we would like to see our politicians brawling like the Ukrainians did today.
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  • Posted by LetsShrug 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Yes!! Clap clap clap clap!!! Silence breeds complacency. The political correctness of being 'polite', the fear of offending, the shame of making waves or bringing up a taboo subject... It IS time to get mad, and vocal about it. So what, you piss someone off at a restaurant for calling them out on their evil ideas...wooopity doo. The floor is not theirs ANY MORE!
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  • Posted by khalling 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    well there was a brief moment when I thought db would get menacing with a pool stick...or whatever they're called
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  • Posted by dbhalling 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Leaving was an option and we did. But there are not a lot of choices for a bar on the ocean that gets a good breeze here , or probably anywhere.
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  • Posted by khalling 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I'm not sure arguments are won that way. I cannot change their mind if I am in their face. However, when they are in my face, the goal is to shame or guilt me into cowardice...I admit it...trying to work through that.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 10 years, 9 months ago
    You could have asked him if he was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    That was why I recommended that it was time to leave. Check, please. There are plenty of restaurants.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 10 years, 9 months ago in reply to this comment.
    There have been times that I have not always been the gentleman. It is easier to be a gentleman when you write than when you speak.

    Perhaps the best lesson I learned from being in a Marriage Encounter group for the last 15 years is that it is much harder to lose your temper in written word than in conversation.

    Both George Washington and Ben Franklin had well thought out regimens to help them improve their public behavior, although Franklin did have some private situations in Europe that I am sure he wanted to keep private. Washington is the better role model.
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