So you want to save the world……..
Well, you’ve got company. I do too. And you’ve just explained to me why we aren’t all in the street not saving our country. The whole binary nature of our country, with the left-right political system, is ingrained in Americans. We have raised to trust our government, to believe they know what’s best for us, and are fighting for us in Washington. At one point they were. Then the bankers took over, the corporations got lobbyists, the money started flowing in, and we don’t mean shit now.
I work in retail near Detroit, so I literally see average, every day Americans all the time. I talk to people. I’ve had a great opportunity to hear what people in Wayne County, MI, which is usually liberal, went Obama, Obama, then Trump (ugh) have to say. I ask them what they think about what’s going on. Most people can’t stand Trump. They are very concerned about the direction the country is going in. They might leave, if they could afford it. They are working paycheck to paycheck. They aren’t protesting in the streets cuz they’ve got to pay their bills, take care of kids, have other obligations, or haven’t heard about any protests. They know the government lies to us all the time. They know the system is broken. They know we are headed for much worse times before it gets better. But…… they are still hopeful it will get better.
A really interesting thing I’ve brought up lately is should we, liberals, be talking to conservatives? Yes! The problem is you can’t. There is no way to approach them. It is always a fight. This article here makes sense. When you talk about fear of complexity — Psychology Today wrote an article indicating that the difference between conservatives and liberals is that conservatives are fear based. The people you refer to as easily manipulated by fear of complexity would be conservatives. Think about. Liberals don’t care about the world changing, new forms of government and economic systems coming into place, we aren’t afraid of mixing races, nationalities, different sexualities. Those are conservative fears. It is fear of “the other” taken to the extreme. Trump is Making America Great Again by takin it back to the 1950’s, when Whites were dominant and the Jim Crow laws ruled, and he loves that shit.
Progressives are even more open minded. I consider myself a far left progressive to the point of calling myself an anarcho-socialist. I have no idea how human beings could function with little governmental structure, but damn if I wouldn’t like to find out after being under this elitist-corporatist oligarchy iron fist.
There is a better way than oligarchy. Mixed economies seem to work really well in Europe. Unfortunately, our corporations have too much power. So…… to get that done here, we gotta take them down. Massive peaceful resistance. Long-term general strike. Pick a corporation, don’t buy their stuff. Bankrupt them. If enough people do it, we can take down whatever corporation we want to. We could take down a freaking bank. Sure…. cuz they don’t actually have the money available if people demand it, they loan out a lot more than they have in reserve. Damn…. I’d like to take down J.P. Morgan/Chase Bank or whatever the fuck it’s called now. Right. They probably have deposits from institutional investors that are huge amounts. I think too big.
There has to be a way to approach conservatives to help them overcome their fears. To talk to them like human beings outside of politics. To reassure them that everything is going to be o.k., we are in this fight together, and the bad guys really are the government!! (and Fox News, lol) (and maybe their pastor, I’m a Christian, hate organized religion, lol) I don’t know. I’m an INTJ. Not sure if you’re up on the Myers-Briggs, but that makes me introverted, intuitive, highly analytical, rational, and I soak up information like water. I love talking to people when I’m out, but only on topics in my comfort zone. I can talk to conservatives who are nice, and open minded, but the nasty ones, nope. I figure if you’re a jerk, not gonna waste my time. There’s gotta be some bridge — people who can deal with hostility. I can’t. I absorb it, literally. I’m an empath. I try to stay away from negative people. Their negative energy drains me.
So, a bridge to connect the right with the left. So we can talk to each other. We need to join the citizens together. So we, THE PEOPLE, can drag our country into a new direction. Conservatives who aren’t constantly being told to be afraid, by Trump and Fox News, but know what’s going on because THEY are participating, would feel empowered rather than cowered into complacency.
Sounds like a plan to me. So…. you know any really nice, patient liberals who are tolerant to hostility? Being familiar with psychology/traumatized people would be very helpful. I really feel horrible for how these innocent people have been manipulated and psychologically abused. Millions of them. So the right could gain power. Oh human beings are so evil.
I think you have it right with complexity. I’ve done so much digging lately, I can’t remember where, but I’ve read in a few places that the most comfortable number of people for a person to maintain contact with is 150. If we broke our levels of government down to numbers that small — micro level — where each person has an actual person they know to go to for their concerns — our country would function like a well-oiled machine. The corruption and lies would stop, too. Cuz we would know each other so well, we’d tell each other straight away — ”Hey, he’s lying! Don’t listen to that, I’ve got proof!”
L 🐾🐾
