Con V Lib

  My Facebook page shows me that one of my "friends" has joined a facebook group called "Conservative". In past communications with this friend it is clear that we have a difference of opinion. My new association with the Coffee Party has me thinking about how to reach out to people that I may not totally agree with. It has been my opinion for some time now that these differences are fueled by the mantras of ideology more-so than they are rooted in any significant practical difference. Chris Rock said in one of his stand up routines " no one is all conservative or all liberal on every subject" I consider myself a liberal but I have opinions on issues that fall decidedly into conservatism. I suspect the same is true for everyone regardless of weather they admit it or not.


  So, in the interest of reaching out I took a look at this conservative page. The "wall" post were cheer-leading, not unlike the more left leaning pages I read regularly. So, I went to the "Discussions" tab and one post title caught my attention. "Why Conservative’s Can’t have a discussion with a Liberal or Leftists Socialists on Facebook…". First of all I disagree with the premise of this title. You can, in fact, have an discussion. Folks do it all the time. I was curious as to what reasons this poster could have for thinking that the discussion option was not possible. The very first point made by this poster was right on the money.

"You are not debating or having a discussion on Facebook …We all know a Debate has rules, and a good Discussion has Passion and Feeling and you are Eye to Eye with the person you are talking to…
On Facebook you are having a Texting Argument or a Texting Chat… ".

  So now I'm really interested. I've learned the hard way that you must be very careful what you commit to when you hit "send". It is all to easy to just hack out the first thing that come to mind but is is seldom the best thing to do. All too often even carefully thought responses can be misinterpreted at the receiving end. Something simple such as describing myself as a "Liberal" means something much different to me than it does to someone else. Making a distinction between the face to face discussion and a written one is valid.

  Then, just as I'm getting my hopes up that I can find points of agreement and validate my assumption that we can, in fact, find common ground. The remainder of the post devolves into a slurry of Ad Hominem attacks and baseless assertions that typify the very problem I was hoping this author would address. Instead, it went on like this.

"When you are text arguing with Liberals or Leftists Socialists you are not arguing facts or statistics, you are arguing against their Religion. Understand Conservatism, Capitalism, and Liberty are all founded in verifiable evidence has proven, time and time again, when people are free and Big Government doesn’t tax them to death, they will thrive and succeed…History and Economic data does support this…".

  This author does not actually make a case with "facts or statistics" he merely asserts it as fact making him guilty of the very error he pins on liberals. Simply attempting to counter Liberal ideas isn't good enough, he needs to ad modifying language, "Liberals and Leftists Socialists ideology.." to the description. Then, the assertions continue.

"Liberals and Leftists Socialists ideology is not based in reality… It is based on a belief that taxing and spending regardless of its cost is the way life should be… Which is the belief, they want YOU to believe in…"

  I had no idea that this is what I believed - oh wait - because it's not even close. I believe that it is possible for our diverse political landscape to work together to find reasonable solutions to today's problems. I believe that compromise is not capitulation. I believe that the "Reality" of our situation is that if we don't begin to find common ground on which we can stand together our shared future is bleak.

  I'll address one last thing.

" It is more important for them to subscribe to their Liberal and Leftist Socialists religion of socialism… than it is to subscribe to anything as noble and honorable as the truth…Therefore you're just wasting your time text arguing…".

  It would seem that this poster has not recognized the irony of this statement. I could simply turn it around on him by changing a few words.

'It is more important for them to subscribe to their Conservative and Righty Nationalist religion of Fascism…'

  But, this statement would be just as untrue and equally divisive. I don't think that having a dicussion on Facebook or any other text media is necessarily a waste of time as long as your goal is to have a meaningful dialog. If we can all learn to avoid the devisive rhetoric and try to understand and accept our differences, we may just find our unity as well.

Coffee Party

So, the other day I was reading updates on Facebook and I came across the Coffee Party. The link that was posted was to a video of Annabell Park who described how she had come up with the idea. Tired of the noise machine that only knows how to shout down and demean others - I was hooked! I can't believe I didn't think of it before.

 I have tried to find a way to address the many conservadrones that I have encountered on forums and comment sections but to no avail, I have come to think that dealing with them is like poking yourself in the eye, no good can come of it. The answer is the same as the line from the movie "War Games" when the supercomputer is playing global thermonuclear war. "Strange game, the only winning move is not to play"

 Trolls, as they are referred to on the Internet, are not interested in dialog, discussion or compromise. Their only all encompassing mission is disruption. The rule for trolls is simple, "DON'T FEED THE TROLLS".
They appear to be on a specially formulated diet of fermented B.S. topped with stupid sprinkles. Attempting to engage them is like splashing around in shark infested water, you just become a target.

 During the last administration anyone who criticized the President, even if the critic was fair, were slammed with a torrent of vitriolic condemnation. Now those same people say the most outlandish things about the current President and they don't see the hypocrisy in any of it. I'm not surprised to find that our elected representatives pay lip service to their constituents values but serve the needs of their corporate sponsors.We're too busy shouting at each other for politicians to worry about. We are feed a continuing stream of talking points handed down from corporate funded think tanks through corporate owned media. The purpose is to keep us divided and thus conquered.

 I have been hoping to see a time when regular folks begin to stop shouting and start discussing the realities of our shared economic and environmental situation like adults. I think that it is well past time that "We the People" ask ourselves if we can continue to tolerate the fact that our representative government is subservient to an unelected, unaccountable and inhuman power structure who's sole purpose is to maximize profits. If the politicians are going to represent first and foremost, the interests of multi-national corporations then be honest and say so. Neither party has displayed any real resistance to corporate power or influence.

 My hope is that through the Coffee Party a new era of civil political discourse begins. That enough folks will begin to talk to each other and discover that we all have more in common than corporate media and their drones would have us believe. Maybe the Coffee Party can sit down with the Tea Party for a good caffeine fix and a little understanding. That regular folks, those not in power, want mostly the same things. We want to care for our families and raise our children in healthy environments. We want access to resources necessary to accomplish this goal. We want OUR government to work for US. We know these thing instinctively. All that is needed now is for regular folks to remind ourselves the we are the people that the constitution refers to.

 The notions of conservative vs. liberal is a false dichotomy that we can no longer afford to indulge. The changes to the nation that we all seek will not come from the powerful. We must engage in the righteous fight to take back power and to suppress the excesses of the powerful. we must demand that those who are sent to represent us do so. This begins when we stop playing the political football game of left vs. right and begin to talk to our neighbors and fellow citizens. Share our troubles and pain with those most readily able to understand - each other.

 So, I'm going to give Coffee Party a try. I've signed the civility pledge and will be attending the first meeting this Saturday. And maybe, just maybe we can start to tone down the rhetoric and turn THE Government back into OUR Government.

 The silly season is here. I usually just despise this time of year. Everyone seems to loose their minds. Not to mention my ever growing contempt for consumerism's. Spending more money at big box corporate rip offs, to give crap to people who will then pretend to "like" it. Wrap this all up in bows and bells and then hang a religious trinket on it. Today's number one American product is rampant stupidity. normally I just try to avoid to whole damned month.

BUT...

 This year my 5yr old has been excited about Christmas. This has reminded me that as a kid the holiday looks a whole lot different. He isn't worried about shopping, money or anything that irks me to no end. He just wants to decorate a tree, hang a stocking and put out a cookie for Santa. His wish list was very modest and practical or, as practical as a 5yr old gets. So, I find myself humbled by the innocent view of the holiday as seen through the eyes of a child. I even caught myself humming a Christmas jingle yesterday.

 So, I'm letting down the shield I normally hold up and I'm going to enjoy this Christmas with my son, on his level. The happy child's holiday hopes for toys, sweets and fun.

 Merry Christmas, Happy holidays, Happy new year Etc. Etc.

P.S. I'll probably not make an effort to post again before next year.

We're going to fall off of the world

Here we go again. The end of the world is Dec 21 2012. This latest 'prediction' by followers of all things doom and gloom is but the latest of so called prophetic dates for the end of the world. Like all the rest, on Dec 22 2012, the world and humanity will still be here. Will this finally put an end to end times predictions, Well, NO. The doomsters will simply pick another date and the whole thing starts all over again.

 Endless appeals to Nostradamus, the Bible and now the Mayan calendar all share one thing in common, confirmation bias. In short, selecting information that confirms the conclusion while ignoring anything that may cast doubt on that conclusion. It's putting the cart before the horse.

  Every so called or self professed prophet in recorded history has been wrong and yet, people flock to the next fool holding a placard that reads the end is near. I've tried hard to understand why people are obsessed with the world coming to an end. There's no reason to think that it will and certainly no reason to believe that we could predict it anyway. Yet, polls find that a majorities believe that the book of revelation makes predictions and that they will come true.

 In the Evangelical / Fundamentalist Christian world, Premillennialism, a description of Eschatology is the driving force behind continued support for end of the world predictions. After Christianity became the religion of the Roman empire this was declared heretical but was revived in the early 19th century. There is little agreement among the followers of this doctrine which is surprising given the significance to their overall belief.

 The newest arrival to the doomsters handbook is the Mayan calender. Along with "predictions" of the Hindus, Cherokee and Hopi tribes and Q’ero Indians of Peru, the Egyptian and Incan calendars and interpretations of Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce and the I Ching. Is there no end to the madness?

 Isn't the end of the world and all humanity a bad thing? If you are a movie producer I suspect it's not.