Shot in the Dark

It’s Not Us. It’s You.

A relationship can survive anything, says Dennis Prager, except contempt.

And there is a lot of contempt in our society.

Mostly one-way:

Nearly a quarter of college students wouldn’t be friends with someone who voted for the other presidential candidate — with Democrats far more likely to dismiss people than Republicans — according to new Generation Lab/Axios polling.

And a disturbing number of leftists don’t want to hire or employ those people, either.

It’s the ugly, militant side of Urban Progressive Privillege: not only do people with UPP never need to recognize any different perspectives on life, they increasingly work to actively cleanse their echo chambers of any dissonance.

You could call it cultural cleansing:

The Democrats routinely call Republicans and their activists “culture warriors,” but when it comes to pushing the country in a particular direction away from where it currently is, it’s always the Democrats who have been at the forefront. On abortion, they have been pushing to open up the definition to make it as widely available and as routine as any other form of birth control. With social spending, they have moved to make it more and more available while lowering the requirements further and further, creating programs that are impossible to pay for.

On issues like education, they are tightening their control as much as possible and shutting families out, even going so far as to label concerned parents as “terrorists.”

Posted

in

, ,

by

Mitch Berg

Tags:

Comments

18 responses to “It’s Not Us. It’s You.”

  1. Bill C Avatar
    Bill C

    I’ll admit to being one who often thinks like this. Split marriages (one high profile one being Mary Matalin and James Carville) never cease to amaze me. I can understand “love conquers all” but when your true core convictions are actively opposed by your partner? Why would I want my hard earned money going to support causes which I directly oppose (presuming co-mingled finances)? If I married a hard core democrat/proggie and we felt it easier to combine finances and have everything go into and come out of one account? My money could be going to pay for pro-infanticide causes, anti-2A causes, open borders politicians, and the increasing common leftist mindset of “Your money” is’t really YOUR money. It’s really the government’s money and we charitably let you spend some of it on yourself”

    Why would hypothetical leftist she want her money to be supporting pro-life, pro-2A, strong borders and reduced taxes/spending politicians or causes.

    The few times I dated 3 decades ago, life wasn’t so political and politics weren’t broached until weeks into the relationship, if ever. However, I did have a near miss. I was part of a random email-based match making program by someone else who went to the U of MN when email was still a novelty. I was connected to another student and within 3 minutes of meeting face to face, she announced she was a vegetarian, leaning towards veganism. We went our separate ways 45 minutes later after there was no detectable chemistry between us. Dodged that bullet.

    Usually, pragmatism causes me comfort. In situations like this, it causes me confusion.

  2. jdm Avatar
    jdm

    Welcome to the club. You’ve only just begun to broach this topic of contempt from the left, Mitch. There are very few, if any, political/policy decisions that have been made by the left in the past few years that weren’t built on a solid base of contempt. Once you see it, you see it everywhere. It should be a Law.

    Here, I’ll start with some examples. How about transgender (aka male) athletes in women’s sports? Or how about the treatment (like dirt) of under-12s in the school systems of various school districts? Or that post from JD about the Albert Lea restaurant owner? Especially, as NW added, when compared to the guy convicted of knocking over the Christopher Columbus statue who received a suspended sentence. Hey! how about the campaign to get us all to eat bugs instead of meat? But my favorite of late came from that lady of the people, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who blamed retailers for not doing enough to prevent the wave of smash-and-grab crimes… just a few days before “The smash and grab crime wave happened upon an exotic car dealership in Chicago this weekend, where two people reportedly stole up to $1 million in merchandise”.

  3. bikebubba Avatar
    bikebubba

    I remember (also about 30 years back) dating a liberal young lady for a little while, but in my defense, she was pro-life, and hence the big disagreements we had then would be more or less pragmatic. Fast forward to today, when pro-life Democrats are like hen’s teeth and the Democratic Party is now stage four progressive due to metastatis in their platforms, and I’ve got to say “If I were back on the market, I’d have to be nuts to date a liberal today.” It would be, as Bill notes, “I’m going to love and support someone who hates everything I believe in.”

    Regarding the other categories, there are also limits to what businesses I’ll voluntarily patronize. Posted as no gun zone? I’m far less likely to go to your shop. Open support of leftist causes? Same. Of course, there is also the pragmatic reason for not supporting shops of many progressives; very often, since they can depend on hippie business, their producs are junk, and I don’t have to use politics as a reason not to shop there.

  4. bosshoss429 Avatar
    bosshoss429

    It’s even worse when you thought that your wife of over 40 years, who has previously been more independent than left or right, turns into a rabid leftist, who also has a severe case of TDS. Then imagine that you also have woke kids. I’m telling you that family gatherings are an adventure.

  5. bikebubba Avatar
    bikebubba

    Another thing in my defense; she was pro-gun, too, being the child of a retired Army artilleryman. So like a combination of hen’s teeth and frog’s fur or something. Didn’t work out, so not a huge issue, and I’m glad that my wife is pro-life/pro-gun/etc..

  6. Mammuthus Primigenesis Avatar
    Mammuthus Primigenesis

    Recall that Biden only hears from the people on the far left of the spectrum, the least tolerant of all people. These are people who still believe Smollet was attacked by white MAGA people, that Rittenhouse went to Kenosha to kill black people, and that the #BLM riots of last summer were not only justified, but were a good thing.
    I make no predictions, but the GOP had +13 swing in bluer-than-blue New Jersey. If these number hold up, 2022 will become an electoral abbatoir for Democrats across the board, in local, state, and federal elections.

  7. Joe Doakes Avatar
    Joe Doakes

    Remember the blow-up when Kelly Conroy said President Trump had ‘alternative facts’ about the size of his inauguration crowd? Liberals ridiculed the notion that people could believe there are different ‘facts.’ Facts are facts. Truth is Truth. There’s no ‘alternative’ to it. Good times. Those were the days.

    Nowadays, people who receive their information from the MSN popup on the computer screen, or from glancing at the headlines in the newspaper, believe they are in full possession of all the facts. Ivermectin is horse dewormer, there’s no evidence it works against Covid, anywhere in the world. 2020 was the fairest, most secure election in history, there’s no evidence of election fraud anywhere in the country. Inflation only happened in November, it’s much better now with gas prices plummeting all across the country. They know The Truth and everyone else is deluded.

    How can anybody have a rational discussion with people who get all their information from those sources? How can we remain friends, even Facebook acquaintences, in light of such absolute certainty of moral superiority? I haven’t found a way. My circle is much smaller now. I’m actually okay with that, but it doesn’t bode well for society going forward.

    If civil war breaks out, there will be shooting within neighborhoods and even within families. How do we recover from that?

  8. jdm Avatar
    jdm

    If these number hold up, 2022 will become an electoral abbatoir for Democrats across the board, in local, state, and federal elections

    After which the Republican House and Senate will do abso-fucking-lutely nothing about electoral policies/laws, the federal law enforcement agencies, the CDC (Fauci), the armed forces, the national debt, annual deficits; they will, however, fight hard for a tax cut and they will lose it all in 2024. Convince me I’m wrong.

  9. justplainangry Avatar
    justplainangry

    Convince me I’m wrong.

    ( crickets ) – because you are absolutely correct

  10. jdm Avatar
    jdm

    It’s a (bitterly) funny thing, jpa, but the commies don’t really prioritize re-elections, they prioritize policies. They know the Republicans, as conservatives are wont, very rarely reverse existing laws and then only after the greatest of efforts in which they fight not only the Democrats but their own chin-stroking, oh-so-concerned allies. Yes, and as my exception that proves the rule, I completely acknowledge the successful efforts to push back against the gun control edifice over the last 20, 30 years.

    And because the Democrats know that almost everything important to them will still be in place (you know, conserved) when they return to power, they just do what they want and damn the electoral costs.

    I think this was in large part why they hated Trump so much. He did reverse policies and take things back. Not nearly enough, especially with regards to personnel, but enough to be scary. And being a thin-skinned, vengeful MF’er who knows he got screwed, if he gets to be president again, heads will roll (metaphorically speaking). Shoot, I’m hoping for it.

  11. zdad Avatar
    zdad

    As far as dating a leftist goes, at least for leftist chicks, who in their right mind would want to date a blue haired, flubber gutted, perforated banshee anyway?

  12. zdad Avatar
    zdad

    As far as dating a leftist goes, at least for leftist chicks, who in their right mind would want to date a blue haired, flubber gutted, perforated banshee anyway?

  13. Pureblood Pete Avatar
    Pureblood Pete

    “The lefties are soooo mean!! (Sob)”

    “It’s OK. We’re gonna vote sooo hard next year; they’ll be sorry when our new Patriots(tm) get to Washington. You’ll see.”

  14. Mammuthus Primigenesis Avatar
    Mammuthus Primigenesis

    So I am wrong to cheer the electoral defeat of commies and abortionists?

  15. jdm Avatar
    jdm

    So I am wrong to cheer the electoral defeat of commies and abortionists?

    Of course not! The agonies of those temporarily prevented from continuing to eff everything up is fun to watch. Just don’t imagine that the electoral victors are going to squat to revert things back to the Before Times.

  16. Joe Doakes Avatar
    Joe Doakes

    …electoral defeat…?

    No, go ahead an celebrate. If they’re defeated in a fair election. Which was the whole point of the January 6 protest: there is grave doubt the 2020 Presidential election was a fair election. Similarly, the Georgia special election. And that raises the question whether Democrats/RINOs will keep hands off to voluntarily lose a future fair election, or will manipulate the results to remain in power.

    It’d be great if you could defeat commies and abortionists through the electoral process. I’m skeptical it’s possible. I fear the rot is too deeply ingrained.

  17. Mammuthus Primigenesis Avatar
    Mammuthus Primigenesis

    The only thing that can stop the totalitarian impulse of the central government is a resurgence of federalism.
    The federal government is the level of government LEAST subject to democratic oversight by the voters. That is why progressives love it and seek to increase its power whenever possible. They know that they are in the minority and “progressivism,” by it’s nature, will always be the minority view.
    Conservatives in the 1950s explicitly made a deal to increase the wealth and political power of the feds because it was felt that we needed a strong central government to keep the commies out of Western Europe and the rest of the world.
    The cold war ended three decades ago. The federal government gave itself a new mission, and that mission to increase its wealth and power at the expense of every other American institution.

  18. Ian Avatar
    Ian

    I’m in a split marriage myself. Politically, my wife and I are closer than Carville and Matalin. We don’t discuss politics much with each other. Come election times, we joke about cancelling each other’s vote out.

    We also grew up in households where we were taught about the 4 forbidden topics of polite conversation for mixed company: Sex, money, politics, and religion. I have no illusions about my co-workers’ views being different from mine, but since it’s not relevant to my job, I steer clear of political discussions.

    I can’t say the same for some co-workers. I recall a short-time contractor guy in my area who bashed conservatives while the rest of us were trying to work. I wanted to shut him up and shut him down with a few choice words, but I knew it was better for my career to let management show him the door when he failed to show his value as an engineer. After a couple of weeks, he ignorantly regurgitated some left-wing crap about Catholics. Our manager, whom had attended my wedding and knew I was Catholic, caught sight of me sighing, donning the headphones, and drowning out the idiot with some Rob Zombie. Left-wing idiot wasn’t there the next week. Good to know there was a line at which management wouldn’t tolerate him anymore.

    Yes, it’s patently unfair that it’s more often conservatives that have to check their politics at the office door, lest they dwindle career prospects. For now, the left operates with impunity in many school and work settings. But the trick is to keep your head down and not stand up to them, unless they’ve crossed the line big time. I think the majority of them know these sorts of discussions are not work-appropriate, but they’re betting they can out the conservatives before they get punished. They want to identify you, so they can marginalize you.

    Your “friends” and neighbors will stand up to the bullies, but not if the bullies can rally the mob against them by playing up the “guilt by association”. In the wake of the George Floyd riots last year, many of my neighbors put up BLM signs. How many of them did so as a show of solidarity with the lofty aim of pushing back cops violating a person’s civil rights, and how many were engaging in a modern-day version of smearing lamb’s blood on their door jamb in hopes the angry mob would pass them by?

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.