• Jax@sh.itjust.works
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    7 days ago

    You should probably… idk, actually read what they said.

    Treating everyone you disagree with like they’re stupid is coping emotionally. Instead of taking the time to, idk discuss things with people they’ve written them off as dumb before they ever speak to them.

    Yes, approaching discourse this way and believing that you can achieve any kind of middle ground is delusional.

    • CircaV@lemmy.ca
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      7 days ago

      I can unequivocally say that anyone entertaining the idea of Canada as a state as a good idea - is a fucking tool. Yeah I’m going to write that off. There’s no middle ground with people too dumb to realize they would be much worse off in that scenario.

    • HalfSalesman@lemm.ee
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      7 days ago

      Treating everyone you disagree with like they’re stupid is coping emotionally. Instead of taking the time to, idk discuss things with people they’ve written them off as dumb before they ever speak to them.

      You don’t know fuck all how much I’ve done precisely that. I obsessively debated various political and economic ideologies for like a straight decade of my life in invite-only forums specifically designed for such debate. I changed my own mind over time, and changed other people’s minds. I’ve done it.

      But I promise you, the people supporting these ideas proposed by the Trump administration are not just stupid, but WILLINGLY IGNORANT for their own selfish purposes. The amount coursing hatred I feel for them burns like the accretion disc of a quasar.

      They are not people I would bother to debate. They are quite literally just my enemy. Mortal enemies. I don’t want middle ground with them. I want something else.

      • Jax@sh.itjust.works
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        5 days ago

        So, and correct me if I’m misunderstanding you, but you - from a series of echo chambers - managed to come to the conclusion that those trapped in echo chambers can’t be convinced they’re wrong?

        Am I reading that correctly?

        • HalfSalesman@lemm.ee
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          2 days ago

          It was literally the opposite of an echo chamber. It was full of people with vastly different ideologies and included even “sub flavors” of said ideologies. Liberals/Neoliberals/Social Democrats, Conservatives/NeoCons/PaleoCons, Libertarians/Anarcho-Capitalists, Communists/Socialists, Monarchists, Fascists/Nazis/Strasserites/Neoconfederates, every flavor of Anarchist. Hell, it had an unironic Anarcho-Primitivist somehow (yes they got the “But you’re on the internet, doesn’t that make you a hypocrite?” a lot).

          It was a dedicated invite-only debate arena on Reddit. Moderated by Libertarians, who might have fucking stupid beliefs but apparently make for very relaxed moderators.

            • HalfSalesman@lemm.ee
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              2 days ago

              I have no idea what the specific goal was but it seems like it was just a place for interesting debate. I only know I got invited because of my advocacy for UBI on Reddit back when I was a (otherwise pro-capitalism) liberal and then from spending time there I morphed into a Mutualist/Market-Socialist.

              • Jax@sh.itjust.works
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                2 days ago

                Interesting, how did everyone else’s perspectives change (or at least what you can remember)? I’m really curious, the more you share about it the less skeptical and more interested I become.

                • HalfSalesman@lemm.ee
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                  3 hours ago

                  There was one dude who was an antisemitic rightwinger and seemed to start adopting softer stances like “You can’t really blame Jews for being bankers historically, its just kind of where they ended up being pushed into by other religious groups. It doesn’t make sense to hate them for that.” or something to that effect. And he even started mixing some left & right leaning econ together.

                  That is the most notable example I can think of at the top of my head. But there were little bits and pieces that got chipped away I think for each interaction for the more open minded debaters I argued with.

                  Some were extremely stubborn though. I remember an anarcho-capitalist that was just dripping with disgust for socialists and basically never budged. He was a Youtuber too, I don’t remember his name though. Motherfucker hated me lol.

                  • Jax@sh.itjust.works
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                    1 hour ago

                    Motherfucker hated me

                    😂😂 Extremely stubborn and prone to hate, sounds about right.

                    There was one dude who was an antisemitic rightwinger and seemed to start adopting softer stances like “You can’t really blame Jews for being bankers historically, its just kind of where they ended up being pushed into by other religious groups. It doesn’t make sense to hate them for that.” or something to that effect. And he even started mixing some left & right leaning econ together.

                    It’s definitely stuff like this that interests me. I think eventually - when the dust finally settles - people are going to have to start talking again. Not like we are now, communicating with the intent of making things better. I have hope that if someone like that can be convinced to have even a little empathy for the people they’ve been told to hate, then there’s hope for the rest of them (and us all). I’m sorry that I insulted you, I should not have implied you were in an echo chamber - nor that you were the type of person to respond without reading.

      • xthexder@l.sw0.com
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        7 days ago

        I just wanted to say kudos for actually explaining your position. It’s too easy to make assumptions about what people are saying over text, and a lot of debates end badly because someone decides the other is malicious or willingly/willfully ignorant before they’re even given the opportunity to explain their reasoning.

        I 100% agree there are some people that are beyond reasoning with. Their brain is locked in to emotional, irrationally habits, and changing such a fundamental point of view is painful. On the other hand though, I think it’s worthwhile to try and understand their behaviors and what life experiences contributed to their world view. How else can we expect to better educate ourselves and future generations?

      • AJ1@lemmy.ca
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        7 days ago

        Just FYI, it’s wilfully ignorant, not “willingly ignorant”. Not that it matters, but I can see you were trying to make a point but it kind of fell apart at “willingly”. Sorry, I accept my downvotes with dignity. Making comments like this is a thankless job, but someone’s got to do it.

        • xthexder@l.sw0.com
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          7 days ago

          trying to make a point but it kind of fell apart at “willingly”

          To me this seems like a pretty minor grammatical error that does nothing to detract from the point being made.
          You’re welcome to correct it, but to me it feels analogous to getting distracted by a smudge on the page when reading a letter.