Feel like I am Surrounded by Tea Party Rednecks

[Liberalynn]

and they are supposedly educated people who should know better on Facebook.

I am so sick of all the impeach Obama, welfare queen mems, English as the only language crap, Obama's stealing my guns, etc.

Are they too ignorant to realize not one gun has been taken? That the English only boat has sailed long ago, that there are more white people on welfare, that its the Repulicans trying to end SS and Medicare?

None of their "complaints" are even based remotely in fact.

I am hiding all such posts but it is disheartening to see how many people actually believe and spread that kind of crap and you know it is primarily for one reason, they are prejuidice, against anyone or anything that isn't lily white.

I actually talked about it in my therapy session because I have been in long term treatment for anxiety and depression.

My therapist said she believes it is based in fear of people who are different. I think it is based on willful stupidity. Its more likely both I know.

Its not like I am saying they don't have the right to free speech or stupidity but at least deal with facts and base your complaints on policy not on personality. For instance don't criticize Obama for something that you let go when Bush did it or to be fair vice versa.

It just makes me so angry but if I tell them all off, I am going to find myself pretty much alone. What gets me as that some of these people I would have never expected it of, because they seem so nice otherwise.

[Scuba]

1. Point out that "they're not coming for your guns, they're coming for your Social Security."

[dembotoz]

4. can't say it any better than that

[Liberalynn]

6. Good Point

This older woman in my writer's group, she's like 90, wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper saying President Obama is stealing her Medicare to pay for Obama care. Did she miss the whole thing that Ryan was going to privatize Medicare? Did she also miss that none of her Medicare services have gone away under President Obama?

[Cryptoad]

23. Some where along the way ,,,

we quit teaching Logic and Reasoning to our children. You can see the results everywhere,, FB ,any online blog and yes even here. This is why there are so many beliefs systems nowadays based in fallacies.

Thomas Jefferson Wept!

[Enthusiast]

42. She must be a Fox "News" viewer.

So sad. And so typical.

But we should recognize that Third Way Democrats have a similar plan for medicare.

[usaf-vet]

40. You can not convince a moron he or she is a moron.

You are wasting your breath. As long as Faux news is on the morons will continue well..... be ill informed morons.

I do believe there is one case of guns being confiscated by the government. Katrina, G.W.Bush and the GOP.

[PowerToThePeople]

2. dump them.

You will be better off for it.

You are not alone.

[Liberalynn]

8. Thank You.

It is good to feel not alone. It is just so hard to see this kind of attitude from my family and friends I grew up with. In terms of many of these people we were raised by similar parents, educated in the same type of schools, etc.

I don't get how they have such prejuidice/ stero typed viewpoints and aren't ashamed of themselves for it?

[kelliekat44]

22. Better to be alone sometimes. Fear of losing "friends" is what keeps the GOP voting the way they do

And fear of losing some money.

[Liberalynn]

31. they do seem to think in lockstep on the right.

[Jackpine Radical]

28. My old high school crowd (now past our 51st anniversary) is all over FB

with their Jesus Freak, right-wing super-patriot nonsense. I spend almost no time there because they make me crazy. I don't recall most of those people being overtly religious at all when we were kids, but something has spread through them like a cognitive cancer, and they're all fundies now. There is a handful of us who have become more radical over the years, and we tend to seek each other out at the reunions. As for the others at the reunions, it's sorta fun to see all the blimped-out ex-cheerleaders & jocks.

I haven't entirely cut ties on FB because they do sometimes post interesting old pics, and since I don't live there anymore, it's my main source of information about who died, etc.

[Liberalynn]

37. The old pics and the reminiscing are fun.

Two of my friends from HS used to make me laugh so hard and that part of their sense of humor is still there and I've missed them for that.

But like you I have found their attitude about religion and politics are so radically different than mine. I don't remember them being that way growing up. Maybe as teenagers we just didn't have discussions on more serious life topics. Plus I went to two pretty liberally minded colleges so maybe that's why we have become so different.

[Enthusiast]

43. Blimped-out ex-cheerleaders & jocks

struck me funny.

[Nye Bevan]

3. The term "redneck" is a bit of a classist slur and should be avoided.

Redneck is a derogatory slang term used in reference to poor, uneducated white farmers, especially from the Southern United States.[1][2] It is similar in meaning to cracker (especially regarding Georgia and Florida), hillbilly (especially regarding Appalachia and the Ozarks),[3] and white trash (but without the last term's suggestions of immorality).

....

The term characterized farmers having a red neck caused by sunburn from hours working in the fields. A citation from 1893 provides a definition as "poorer inhabitants of the rural districts...men who work in the field, as a matter of course, generally have their skin stained red and burnt by the sun, and especially is this true of the back of their necks".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redneck

[dembotoz]

5. all well and good but a generic name for the foe does have value

and mother fucking bastards seem not polite

[Liberalynn]

10. MFB may not be polite

but is often fitting.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

69. It's actually *too* polite. ;)

[Liberalynn]

9. No offense was meant on my part towards Southerners in general or Farmers.

I come from a long line of Farmers.

It was interesting I just watched a program on History 2 about where our language comes from and they discussed many of these same terms.

I had no idea that Southern language was partially based on terms of the Scotch/Irish immigrants. That is actually one side of my family's heritage.

[Liberalynn]

94. Here is the America's Secret Slang video I referenced before.

they indicated that while it is a popular belief that the term meant the sunburned neck of farmers that isn't where the expression came from. Their research indicates it is because back in Scotland the Scotts swore oaths in their own blood and when they fought battles for their religion and independence they wore red scarfs around their neck to signify their oaths and commitments, thus the term redneck. Then when they came to America that is what some of the original British colonists started calling them and it worked its way into American Slang.

[YoungDemCA]

95. +1

[pampango]

7. "... it is based in fear of people who are different."

Fear of "others". That about sums it up.

[Liberalynn]

12. Part of it is probably that they have fear of their rapidly becoming the minority

class themselves.

I'm a white woman and I guess I have always looked at it like it is stupid to hate people because of something they had no control over to begin with.

None of us had a choice of ethnicity, gender, and IMHO sexual preference, so its really beyond unfair and stupid to treat people badly based on any of those things.

The people sharing this crap are all so "supposedly Christian' so what ever happened to "treat others how you wished to be treated."

I was discriminated against on a job where they came right out and said to myself and several other female co-workers that our legitimate complaints against our boss lack of worth ethic and inability to complete any of his job tasks were not going to be listened to because "we didn't have a man among us, and we just sounded like a bunch of whiny bitches."

To me I was appalled and thought I would never want to treat anyone else this way. I would want to believe that most people would feel this way. Its just sad to me I guess that so many people I grew up with my friends and family members seem to be okay with this kind of discrimination towards others.

They want to hate someone based on their choices fine, but don't just hate to hate based on how someone was born.

If many of our ancestors had treated people fairly and not been discriminatory maybe there wouldn't be fear of some sort of payback to begin with.

[pampango]

18. Well said. Hating people for things they have no control over, like gender, race, ethnicity,

sexual orientation, nationality, etc. does indeed goes "really beyond unfair and stupid".

Their hatred is an easy trap to fall into. In recent decades inequality has skyrocketed and the middle class and poor have been hurt. At the same time coincidentally, IMHO, our society has become much more diverse.

Our surging inequality has been caused by tax cuts for the rich, the weakening of unions and the shredding of the safety net among other causes. All of these would have caused the economic hardships even even if our society had not become more diverse. Understanding that requires more effort than looking around and thinking "Wow, there sure are a lot more people who are not like me than there used to be. No wonder I'm having problems. "They" are causing problems for "us".

[Liberalynn]

39. I think you make a great point.

Instead of looking for real answers which is hard work and daunting, they want convenient scape goats.

[NOLALady]

35. They didn't seem to afraid of the "others"

when the "others" were enslaved.

They were definitely not afraid of the "others" when Mr. Jim Crow ruled.

IMHO, the fear is based on projection. Payback?

[Liberalynn]

41. I think you are right that they fear payback.

[pampango]

53. I suspect that projecting "payback" from "others", or even just that they will abuse their "majority

status" as white males did, is part of the fear - either consciously or subconsciously.

[HughBeaumont]

11. Then there are the Austrian School far right libertarians . . .

. . . . who use the worst sort of pseudoscience and supremely revisionist history to justify their predatory selfishness and 1%er fealty as rule. Nothing worse than a stupid person pretending he's smart. I don't engage these people for long. Unpaid clerical work isn't my thing.

[BlueToTheBone]

13. hate to say this, but

you are alone. Be brave, accept the fact that you are surrounded by tea party rednecks. My advice? Stop trying to be nice and find a new set of friends. These are your family members you say? Well, I "divorced" my family years ago and have been much happier.

Good luck. BTW, I agree with your therapist...this is all fear based, fear of lack, fear of the unknown, fear of death.

[Liberalynn]

15. Thank You.

I do have to get braver about accepting the "aloneness." Burying my feelings in order to not upset the apple cart is part of what caused my depression and anxiety to begin with. I just end up with guilty feels for not standing up for what I know is right.

[BlueToTheBone]

19. ...

I agree that the aloneness is daunting.

Pema Chodren says our anxiety comes from trying to find ground under our feet. Of course there is no ground. We have no idea about the future except that we will die and we have no idea when. That is enough to scare the beejeebus out of us. So, the practice is to be grounded in the center of our own being. To know that anxiety is the base state of all humans is a bit of a comfort, for in that we are not alone.

[bullwinkle428]

14. Willful stupidity truly is the path of least resistance.

[Liberalynn]

16. True

It's also become like some sort of mob mentality.

[kalisto2010]

17. Delete them! You'll feel much better

After the Trayvon murder the racists came out the wood-works on Facebook. Every day I logged in I had to read a new story of some Black person murdering some White person. These nimrods are to ignorant to realize the protest was over the fact that a Man went free after openly murdering someone. I then reminded them each race is their own race enemy, since 86% of Whites are killed by Whites, and 95% of Blacks are killed by Blacks. Just delete them, no fact will ever change their mind, some people are just racist and proud.

[Liberalynn]

44. I saw those same posts.

You are right that they just ignored the fact that the blacks who shot the white people got arrested while Trayvon's murder wasn't even investigated properly.

[dembotoz]

20. i don't delete i tend to argue

i get called lots of names

but if nobody ever tells them they are wrong the conclude they are right

kind of like after ww2 when the army would bring german townspeople to tour the death camps
they would say they had no idea

being a racist asshole is not ok
taking away folks right to vote is not ok
crapping on poor folks is not ok
taking away the right of women to control their own bodies is not ok
shoving your religion down my throat is not ok

its just me

i do keep my profile bland, I do not list where i live or where i work
i do not post a lot of personal information.
and it is sad that i feel i have to

[JCMach1]

24. Don't feed the trolls... delete, or just remove from your feed (reserved for peeps you can't exactly

remove)

You will feel a lot better...

[Fantastic Anarchist]

71. I prefer confrontation ...

... not too change their minds, per se, but so that the casual reader will have an opposing viewpoint.

[JCMach1]

80. I understand the sentiment, but you have to cut your losses sometimes, there are just some people

who are not engaged (i.e. no education is possible). Also, if the things they are spouting are damaging to others...

I had a distant cousin I had to essentially call out as a racist due to some very hurtful remarks about my family. I am a white American married to a Kenyan. Our son is 3 now...

In short, no matter how much you want to educate you should make some red-lines for yourself.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

82. Some people are irredeemable ...

I understand that, but I want to make sure there's an opposing viewpoint for the casual reader to consider. Plus, I'm a feisty contrarian by nature.

[Liberalynn]

47. That's an internal debate that goes on in my head.

A part of me wants to believe they can be "educated" that their behavior is wrong and not just a matter of an opinion they are "entitled to."

To me you can have an opinion on whether the temperature in the room is too hot or too cold, on when miliary action is justified or not justified, but never on whether all people should be accorded civil rights and basic human decency.

The other part of me is saying though they were taught the golden rule, they learned about slavery and discrimination, they were taught about the heroes and heroines who fought to against those thing, just like I did, so they already should know that discriminitory behavior is wrong. So maybe they are brick walls with no conscience whose minds can't be changed. This is what gets me sad and depressed, is that there might be no hope of ever changing this.

[LittleGirl]

21. Just yesterday, I had an online fight with a cousin in TX

She HATES obama and anything liberal. She is married to an oil man so there is your reason right there...Bush country and racist as they come. This woman used to be my Mother's favorite niece until the 08 election. Then she posted all of this anti-Obama crap and constantly defends Fox spews. I just made a comment yesterday that "fox was fiction" and she jumped all over me! Whoa. I couldn't believe the rhetoric that came out of her mouth and called her out on it. She let the whole world see her racism and anti-liberalism remarks. It was absolutely disgusting. I've divorced the racists in my life from facebook and I should have never gotten down in the dirt with her. I was stupid to engage and it wasn't even my wall. I deleted my stupid comebacks but she's too stupid to know how to do that on facebook and they are still out there for the world to see. They don't care. They live in their bubble of Fox spews and Rush limbaugh hate and apparently, think they are wiser than us liberals. They are a sickness in this society and I can't wait for them all to die off. She's in her 60s or early 70s too.

[Liberalynn]

59. So many are being brainnwashed by Fox

You're right. They don't even seem to care that the word can see that vileness. They are proud of it.

[LittleGirl]

61. They are! Unashamed of their overt racism and

they are so naive. I wonder how many elections they have to lose before they see that they are not the majority anymore?

[iamthebandfanman]

25. Ive had therapists say the same

type of thing to me..
...
after digging with people ( for some reason I always end up analyzing my councilor/therapists life eventually.. they are often times even more 'dysfunctional' than their patients) I often find that they end up being right wingers...
which I find very odd, given the field they've chosen to work in (you know, helping others..)...
then again, a position to tell folks what to do is right in line with their want for control over others.. so maybe its a match made in heaven ?
lol.

ive since learned that you NEVER discuss your political views with your councilor/therapist
you have to understand that the right wings 'ignorance is bliss, care about only you' is the same mantra they'll be preaching to ya in sessions

[Liberalynn]

52. That probably in general is a good rule to follow.

I have had a number of counselors over the years. One would always go to the "you have to let everyone have their own opinion line and you have to respect it." I got kind of huffy and said not "when its based on ignorance and is morally wrong." She just said back they are still entitled to their opinion even then. So I just shut up at that point, though I still wanted to argue.

My current one is actually pretty liberal. I think she just generally wants to believe there is good in everyone even the "haters".

I told her the other day that "despite all the claims that this is such a "Christian" nation that I think that things sure seem to be heading into a "survival of the fittest mode" and if you show anything like individuality, difference, compassion, or weakness, or sickness they just want to thin you out of the herd." She told me she probably shouldn't be saying this but that she fears the same thing. She believes though it is all caused by their own individual fears. I don't disagree I just think blind hatred plays a part too.

[GalaxyHunter]

26. so if they were not so nice then it would make sense to you that they are tea party rednecks?

But because they are nice you are amazed that they are tea party rednecks?

way to stereotype.

[cordelia]

34. This

I wonder why some stereotypes and pejoratives are allowed here.

Vile.

[Liberalynn]

54. For me, it's hard to understand how genuinely caring about your fellow human beings

can co-exist with racism and bigotry within the same person? To me it just makes sense that one should rule out the other.

To me if someone says they believe in the views our founding fathers had for this nation, "that all people are created equal", then it follows that their words and actions should reflect this. That if they say they are Christians then they should follow Christ's teachings to love one one another, be kind to the poor etc.

Instead we have all this hateful rhetoric that is not even factually based.

I don't mean to sterotype it's just truly genuine confusion on my part.

[GalaxyHunter]

70. you didn't mean to stereotype, but you did. n/t

[Bunnahabhain]

27. I'm not a therapist but...

if Facebook posts are bothering you enough to be a subject of discussion in a therapy session might I suggest you simply do not Facebook?

[Liberalynn]

57. That's a possibilty.

[Grammy23]

29. I totally get where you are coming from and feel your pain.

I also have friends and relatives that fall into that category of "haters" who have had a field day since President Obama was elected. I couldn't even reveal my true feelings about that on election night (except to one friend and my niece) because I already knew how others felt about it. And for a while, they were quiet and said nothing. One way or the other.

Then once McConnell and others began to reveal their agenda (Make Obama a One Term President) they were emboldened to speak up again. And speak up they did!! Once I made the mistake of engaging one person on Facebook (a relative) who posted a particularly hateful comment regarding the poor and needy. It was just mean spirited and I called her on it. Not rudely, either. Just made the statement that as a Christian (her, not me) she was supposed to care about and help the sick, down trodden, imprisoned, etc. She came back at me with a quote from the Bible that basically absolved her of that requirement. "If a man shall not work, he shall not eat." That kind of crap. Huh??? So I knew I was defeated on that front before I even started since she quickly informed me that "the authorities" she counseled had let her know she was off the hook for caring about the sick and underprivileged unless they DESERVED to be cared about. And she could pick and choose who that was. Her authority, by the way, was her new preacher. Silly me, I thought Jesus was supposed to be their Authority on the subject of how we treat others.

So I have had to learn that I can't engage with them on Facebook, in person or anywhere else for that matter. It depresses me and makes me really sad at times. But it is the reality.

I think at some point these people will realize they have been duped by the Republicans and the Tea Party. But it may take a long time. Once I realized that I couldn't change their minds it made it easier (but not easy) to just let it go. It is better for my mental health and obviously better for my Blood Pressure.

[Liberalynn]

58. You make a wonderful point about "Jesus" supposing to be the Authority.

I was raised Catholic and they would read to us all the gospels about non judgment and hording wealth being abhorrent, and then the priest would give some totally judge mental sermon.

There was a part of me that loved the gospels. That would fill me with a sense of hope and belief in the goodness that we as humans could be capable of. Then the priests would ruin it. Its why I quit going to church.

Hopefully you are right that eventually some of them may realize they are being duped not only be the Republican party but some ministers and priests as well.

In the meantime thanks for letting me know, I am not alone.

[Tikki]

30. Call them out on their hypocrisy...they are full of it...each and every one.

Tikki

[Enthusiast]

32. You might point out that no one has even proposed taking guns away.

Ignorant is the word.

[AtheistCrusader]

51. Not true.

Have a look in the Gun Control Advocacy subforum next to the Gungeon on this site.

You will find a variety of advocacy opinions from 'ban them all', to 'ban assault weapons' to just simple background checks.

Ah, but that's just the peanut gallery right? Well, there's also some rather nebulous and unqualified opinions from plenty of legislators and other elected officials, on a similar variety of gun-related topics. ('You don't need an AR-15' from the Vice President, etc)

So, I wouldn't say 'no one has even proposed taking guns away', because some people have in fact proposed taking at least SOME guns away (or at least removing them from the market, no ex post facto laws, etc)

[GalaxyHunter]

83. I believe that for every 1 person saying "they" will come take out guns,

there is another person saying "we want all guns gone!"

they even each other out.

[Enthusiast]

89. No "official" has proposed taking currently owned guns away from people.

Right wing extremist Republican gun advocates and the NRA are always telling their ignorant followers that "the President" is going to take their guns away. This is a right wing lie and nothing but propaganda.

People that advocate banning the sale of assault rifles are perfectly reasonable. High capacity magazines and assault style weapons are not necessary for hunting or home protection. This is not the same as "taking guns away".

I am a lifelong hunter. But I'm not an ignorant NRA follower.

[AtheistCrusader]

90. I'm not an 'ingnorant NRA follower' either.

I own three rifles that would otherwise be classified by congress as an 'assault weapon'. (Assault rifles are fully auto, or burst-capable) I disagree with your assessment that they are 'not necessary'.

There is a reason the AR-15 platform is the most popular center-fire rifle in the United States.

[Enthusiast]

91. Again. Most proposals would allow you to keep the weapons you already own.

But in the future these firearms would not be available.

I killed plenty of deer with a pump shotgun and muzzle loader.

[AtheistCrusader]

96. Sure, it's actually unlawful to hunt deer with anything smaller than .240 in my state.

AR-15's .223 need not apply.

Ending the supply and not removing the millions in circulation solves what? Not snark, I'm genuinely curious. We stopped allowing people to purchase new fully automatic weapons in '86, and they are still available, just really expensive.

[ZRT2209]

33. get off Facebook

[backscatter712]

36. I don't put up with teabaggers on Facebook.

For one thing, I make a rule for myself on Facebook - I usually don't friend people on Facebook that I haven't met in person. This makes Facebook much better for me right there.

Second, if someone's being a dick on Facebook, I unfriend them. I have better things to do with my time than put up with that bullshit, so if they're going to flood my newsfeed with teabagger garbage, buh-bye.

[dgibby]

38. I feel your pain.

I have noticed that to a person, everyone of these individuals get their info from Fox News. They are also quick to post their "Christian" values for all the see and admire. I do not engage them anymore, although I used to, because it is futile and a waste of my time to try to reason with members of a cult, and that's what they are.

I do post factual info from trusted liberal sources (like DU!), and I tell them that while they're entitled to their own opinions, they're not entitled to their own facts. I also report their racist posts. Other than that, I pretty much leave them to simmer in their own ignorance.

At my age, I no longer want or need their approval, so it's easier to just let them be. If they have some redeeming value as friends, I agree to disagree. If not, I delete them. No sense in keeping toxic people around.

[Iliyah]

45. From Monday thru Friday my sister goes to work

and every single morning three - 4 so-workers are bashing Obama daily stating he is the anti-Christ and he will cause the apocalypse. That Obamacare is the work of satan and he should not be president because he is a Muslim born in Kenya. My sister works in Torrance, CA.

Sometime after awhile of hearing this BS, and one co-worker gets all this trash from Fake news on the internet, my sister schools them and then they finally STFU. Next day, same BS . . .

Unfortunately you just can't stop stupid, look at majority in GOP congress and states.

[Snake Plissken]

46. And the baggers are saying "I'm so tired of these liberal elitists who think ...

we need more than a 3rd grade education."


The internet was so much better in the 1990s, back when you actually need more than a 3rd grade education to get on to the internet.

[riverbendviewgal]

48. My brother seems so nice too

but he is a redneck BUBBA from NJ.

[Liberalynn]

78. It has to be hard when it is your brother.

With me its my cousins. My sister at least is a Democrat and while she is not as interested in politics as I am she at least is willing to talk about it with me some.

[Mr Dixon]

49. Hello

Send me a friend request I will be your friend so you won’t feel alone.

[Liberalynn]

86. Thank you for the offer of friends

I would like to accept that offer for here on DU. As for Facebook, I am going to do as some people here have suggested and take a vacation from that place for awhile. I can see cute kitty pictures and dog pictures here and on Pinterest without all the right wing propaganda.

[Mr Dixon]

97. AGREED

enjoy your down time

[glowing]

50. Oooh, I hate the English only BS. We are completely doing a disservice for education.

I wish I was more fluent in multiple languages and that they were taught at earlier ages in elementary school when children are first learning words and meanings, etc.

If you go to other countries, many of them know English and maybe a couple more languages. It is ridiculous that we aren't fluent in Spanish, English, and maybe Chinese at this point... It should be part of our children's curriculum... As it is now, companies pay more money for those who are fluent in Spanish and English in FL because it is so necessary for businesses. The kids who are in families that speak Spanish and also learn English in the classroom are going to far more enticing for an employer in the future.

Afraid of becoming cultured? Afraid of a language? Afraid of the world? Seriously stupid!!!

[Liberalynn]

66. Totally agree with you!

For supposedly "loving America" they are totally hamstringing us as far as competing in the global marketplace.

They seem to deliberately want this nations' children to be under educated about the rest of the world.

Then they wonder why we are getting our butts kicked in the international markets.

[otohara]

55. The Obama's Flew Bo On A Private Jet

when they forgot him on vacation and it cost the tax payers $25,000.

My dear friend invited this gal to join us while they were both in town the other day and
this is what spewed out of her mouth among other stupid lies.

This was my first encounter with a real live tea party type.

It didn't end well.

[Liberalynn]

64. Wow. The crap these people make up.

[canoeist52]

56. I engage the ones with who I think I can make a difference.

I've never un-friended anyone but have been un-friended twice for challenging their political posting. (One of them was after a full glass of wine). I feel that hiding their posts or deleting them just makes them feel that they must be right as they're not used to being challenged. It's like looking the other way at public bullying. All of them are self-considered Christians so I basically GENTLY, because tone matters, throw "What Would Jesus Do?" at them.

Most of them have pretty much stopped posting that stuff (which comes verbatim from Fox TV and radio). Either that or they have their settings set for me to not see their Fox postings.

[Liberalynn]

63. That makes sense to engage the ones that you might make a difference with.

Basically I have just been hiding their posts and I have taken a few of them off the news feed feature.

I did speak to my cousin who was forwarding "right wing comics" to my personal email. I told her I found them offensive and to please not to ever forward anything like that to me ever again.

She backed off. Her defense was she didn't actually read it before she sent it. I kind of don't buy that. So I then said "well why send me stuff you are not even bothering to read yourself." She never did it again. Now she just sends me dog and cat pictures and family stuff.

[badtoworse]

60. Why are you wasting your time on Facebook?

Let it go and spend quality time, in person with real friends.

[Liberalynn]

62. I have been trying to get out more with Democratic friends.

The problem is some of the people on Facebook posting this are members of the writing group I attend each month and some are my family members who I see at family events.

The good thing is at the Writer's Group are facilitator has a strict we stick to the writing, and no politics rule, its funny its always the Right Wingers who are always trying to break that rule, and my sister has instituted the same rule at her house when family events are held there. None of them have tried to push against that at her house.

[badtoworse]

67. I said real friends, not just Democratic friends

Politics has its place, but filtering your friends with it is not one of them. On a political level, I have strong disagreements with my two very best friends, but it is not a factor in our friendship. We've been friends for more than 30 years and my wife and I both love them dearly. That is the kind of friendship that will enrich your life, Facebook, not so much.

BTW, I do have a Facebook page, but I only use it to write Happy Birthday or Happy Anniversary on friends' walls. If I catch a nice fish, I might post the picture, but that's about it.

[Liberalynn]

73. I guess with real friends and family then I just have to agree to disagree.

I should have the courage to let them know when they are overstepping their bounds and accept it when they are saying I am overstepping theirs.

If we are real friends it shouldn't end things. I guess that's my real fear is if I respond to them how I feel they will walk away.

On Facebook I just mostly like to share family photos, funny cat and dog pics, daily quirky events. I don't post my politics at all. I just quietly fume at these right wing memes.

[badtoworse]

84. Friends that would walk away over political views aren't real friends

That said, if political disagreements get to point where it becomes personal, you need to take a step back and agree that friends and family are more important. Doesn't need to nasty or difficult - tell them you love them, value the relationship and don't want anything to change that. If they don't respond positively to that, you should reconsider whether they really are your friends

[Fantastic Anarchist]

65. "Are they too ignorant to realize not one gun has been taken?"

"None of their "complaints" are even based remotely in fact."

You answered your own questions.

However, if you want a simple answer, then the answer is yes. They are literally too ignorant.

I do find it interesting that you talked about politics with your therapist. I tried to broach that subject a long time ago with mine (also being treated for anxiety), and she said that that was off-topic. In all fairness, I did ask her about her view about single-payer health care. I guess that's sort of a conflict of interest to answer either way.

[Liberalynn]

72. That is odd that they wouldn't talk about it with you.

Last edited Thu Sep 19, 2013, 02:17 PM - Edit history (1)

Mine have always been open to it. I told them politics and religion are some of the things that I get depressed and anxious about. How all the things I see happening conflict with all the things I was taught about how the world should be and that its disheartening that we are so far away from that ideal in reality.

I am smart enough to know the "ideal society" can never be achieved and that not every thing is going to be puppy dogs and rainbows, but we should at least still strive to understand one another better.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

74. I can imagine that if the primary issue with you is politics and religion ...

... and the apparent conflict with society, then your therapist would discuss this with you as part of your healing. In my case, my anxiety is not about politics or religion. Also, I suppose asking (in my case) about single-payer health care with my therapist kind of puts her on the spot. If she answers either way, she's in a conflict.

I can understand both approaches.

[Liberalynn]

76. You're right that she could be conflicted about stating one way or the other on single payer.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

81. I immediately felt bad right after I asked it.

I don't think, for me, it was an appropriate thing to ask.

[AgingAmerican]

68. 30 years of the "Alternative Information Reality®"

30 years of living under an information bubble has rendered them idiotic babbling idiots. In their world, there are never any opposing ideas/viewpoints, thus the stupidest, most easily debunked nonsense becomes reality.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

75. I don't have any friends IRL.

And a few on facebook.

And yes, they are ignorant and proud of it. The local librarian hates Mexicans. Librarians are supposed to be open-minded....

And to anticipate your next question, no meetup groups for anything less than 80 miles away, and the meetup groups tend to be libertarians. If they are atheists, they are atheist libertarians.



I am attempting the Buddhist attitude of breaking attachment. Breaking attachment to wanting friends. I don't want to be around normal, boring, conventional, noncreative people. They are depressingly predictable.


Kind of like the people who gave Frank Zappa hell because they didn't understand that you could be creative and anti-establishment and NOT on drugs.

[Liberalynn]

77. My sister said she is coming to the conclusion that it is best to just keep

to yourself. Do what you have to do to earn your paycheck and then just go home and be by yourself.

She said we can talk to each other and that's all we really need.

She said we worry too much about what other people think of us, and she is getting to the point where she doesn't give a damn any more.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

79. I had the nerve to paint my house BLUE.

And the gossip down at the hardware store was that "a buncha Mezzcans musta moved in".

Because boring white people don't dare paint their house a COLOR. All houses must be white or beige or brown or gray, something neutral.

Good lord, they'll find out I have a personality and opinions and probably come after me for a barbecue where I'm the guest of honor--like they used to do with witches.

[Liberalynn]

85. Wow that is bad.

Keep being yourself. We need more people like you. I love blue too.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

87. "Painted lady" brownstones in the city are quite valuable.

My house is very old and has character. The paint adds to the uniqueness. It's Gothic Revival. It was built sometime after 1882.

That librarian was mad because they have a Mexican food aisle at Wallyworld.
I guess nobody told her that Texas used to have a different name: "Mexico".

Then a woman at the book club defended her by saying "Oh but she's not from Texas."

So it's OK to hate Mexicans if you're not a native Texan? We stopped participating in the book club discussions too.

[Mellow Drama]

88. Every old dude that's sexually hit on me since I was 13 has been Tea Party

...or would have been Tea Party if it had been around. If every republican male over 40 were investigated in California, half of them would be in jail for sexual abuse.

[KamaAina]

92. In colonial times, PA came very close to declaring its official language to be

German.

[Liberalynn]

93. I never knew that.