Posted by
Playful Walrus on Wednesday, February 28, 2007 12:29:05 PM
We all have people in our personal lives we love who are liberals. We also have liberal people in places of prominence and power in the media, in academia, and in government offices that we encounter in the course of our lives.
Have you ever noticed that they think the reason we’re not liberals too is because we didn’t hear them when they told us how they feel? Coming to this realization has made a lot of sense for me out of the behavior of liberals.
Liberals think many things that they see as problems are the result of a lack of education. In the modern form, this goes back to the Enlightenment. It isn’t the inclination for people to sin that causes problems, you see – it is ignorance. Educating teens about contraception and condoms will stop unwanted pregnancies and the spread of STDs. Educating people about each other will stop bigotry and harassment. Educating criminals will keep them from committing more crimes. That's how liberals think.
The problem comes when you disagree with their assumptions or conclusions. That’s when they think that you just didn’t hear them when they “educated” you. For all of their talk about “diversity” and “tolerance”, liberals think if they just tell you their opinions and perceptions, you’ll agree with them, and if you don’t it makes them angry. You must not have heard them - and they’ll tell you again, louder. They will repeat these steps until you see things their way. If you still don’t agree with them, it must mean that you are stupid, insane, or are deliberately choosing to be ignorant. You couldn’t have possibly have come to a different conclusion than they did, could you?
This is one reason why liberals are prone to demonstrations and chanting. “Hey, that crowd keeps saying that Bush is a war criminal. It must be so! Oh my, that illegal alien is on a hunger strike – guess that means I was wrong about wanting our borders secure.” They expect businesses, churches, and the government to take action based on their demonstration and chanted slogans, even if they are just twenty people out of millions.
This is also a major reason why academic institutions and media are so important to them – almost like mass is for a devoted Catholic - because that’s where they “educate” you and tell you their opinions. Surely you can't still be a conservative after going through college or watching this episode of Law & Order, could you? Your history professor told you the U.S. is a rotten country - so how could you still think otherwise? Hey, that homosexual actor on SVU read lines written for his psychiatrist character that says homosexuals can’t change, so I guess those homosexuals who now live as heterosexuals must be living a lie! How can you possibly deny the threat global warming poses to us after watching Al Gore? You must not be listening!
Oh, and right-wing talk radio is dangerous because simply telling someone something means they’re going to adopt your opinions – just think of the millions of people who are being poisoned by those willingly ignorant talk show hosts!
So, the next time your liberal family member rattles off about how one thing or another, be sure to calmly let them know that you hear them and have always heard them, but that you have reached a different conclusion then they have, and unless they are willing to have a real conversation about the matter, there’s no need for them to repeatedly make snide comments about opinions you happen to have.
Sometimes, they just need to blow off steam. After all, liberals tend to be dissatisfied and angry, and have been conditioned to think they are powerless to change much about their lives without the help of a group (labor union, Democrat party, GLAAD, NAACP, whatever). Ask them questions, such as “How did you find that out?” or “What convinced you of that?” or “How will that change things?” They’ll appreciate your interest, you might gain insight into their thought process, and maybe - just maybe - you can help them see when they are parroting something they heard or are being inconsistent.
It may be worth a try.