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rrneck

(17,671 posts)
40. Heh. I was raised Southern Baptist.
Thu Jun 20, 2013, 01:28 PM
Jun 2013

Got dunked and everything. Nowadays friends and relatives in the south figure me for some sort of bound for hell commie. But in spite of all that, the christian message of "turn the other cheek" still holds true. And it ain't easy. If (generic) you hurt somebody, they will hate what you do. If you hurt them again they will hate you for what you do. If you hurt them enough they will hate you for who you are. Keep hurting them and they will hate everybody like you.

It's a funny thing about forcing people to admit something. Trying to force them to admit it usually makes them dig in their heels more. You can watch it happen right here all the time. Facts and figures are to no avail. Logic is useless. That's because people believe in something, and since politics is just another religion fundamentalism is going to happen. One can be a fundamentalist liberal just as much as a fundamentalist christian. And the results are about the same.

For all the high falutin' thinking that goes on here and everywhere else, I've found the best way to change people's minds is to work with them personally on a shared objective. And I don't mean discussing it over a distance of a thousand miles. I mean actually working shoulder to shoulder. There is still plenty of racism in the south just like everywhere else. But people of different races do actually work together, and they they do so happily if not joyfully. They are able to do so because the activity is not defined by ideology. They may believe any number of things, but they bring those beliefs to the task at hand and profit from it. And they profit in more ways than one.

There is a weird and ugly thing that happens when we begin to expect people to work for an ideology instead of expecting an ideology to work for people. Buying something means someone has invested in it and they will have a tendency to protect that investment. It seems we have become ideological consumers buying personalized ideologies from industries controlled by the 1%. I sometimes wonder if a "personal relationship with God" is really any different from personalized identity politics. How often are left leaning talking heads referred to by their first names and lionized as political celebrities for telling people what they want to hear?

I can appreciate your skepticism regarding a "federal solution". The actual work of helping people and getting along with them is best the closer to home it is. I think maybe that the money to do all those good things should run through Washington because it unites us as Americans and, in the words of Willie Sutton, "That's where the money is."

People are people. nt ZombieHorde Jun 2013 #1
In 2016 the vast majority of the country will vote for Hillary and will turn blue graham4anything Jun 2013 #2
Stop it. Just stop it! They will not vote for Hilary or any other democrat in the deep south. madinmaryland Jun 2013 #42
the generation is over.Women in record numbers will indeed vote for Hillary in the south. graham4anything Jun 2013 #43
I am a woman. Blue_In_AK Jun 2013 #48
See, you will vote for her in a race vs. Jeb Bush(and I hope the same against anyone repub.) graham4anything Jun 2013 #53
But hopefully it will not be that choice. Blue_In_AK Jun 2013 #68
I live in Oklahoma Floyd_Gondolli Jun 2013 #50
It took a generation just to get to the point LBJ was talking about. We still have another madinmaryland Jun 2013 #57
If Dr. King and LBJ were as pessimistic, we would still be living in 1859 graham4anything Jun 2013 #59
What the hell are you talking about. Wasn't it Abraham Lincoln that moved us into the post-1859 madinmaryland Jun 2013 #61
500 plus electoral vote with 125 million popular votes you mean. graham4anything Jun 2013 #62
You again provide an evenings worth of amusement... madinmaryland Jun 2013 #67
I think many will vote for Hillary. My daughter-in-laws family are dems but they hate southernyankeebelle Jun 2013 #79
Why is that, rrneck? rdharma Jun 2013 #3
Who is "they"? nt rrneck Jun 2013 #4
The red spots on your map. rdharma Jun 2013 #6
Concentrations of poverty. There's a link to the CDC. nt rrneck Jun 2013 #7
I know! nt rdharma Jun 2013 #9
A fine example of what I'm talking about. rrneck Jun 2013 #8
Huh? rdharma Jun 2013 #10
Unfortunately, you're not. nt rrneck Jun 2013 #12
Right To Work WovenGems Jun 2013 #26
This!!!!! get the red out Jun 2013 #28
Exactly! rdharma Jun 2013 #46
Recommended. (nt) NYC_SKP Jun 2013 #5
One thing about FDR; in spite of his wealth he could empathize. Uncle Joe Jun 2013 #11
Just.... WOW alittlelark Jun 2013 #13
"get to work solving problems", OK I'll get right on that, LOL Corruption Inc Jun 2013 #14
+1,000!!! The poor are more likely to fall for the TV brainwashing which displaces their anger, Dustlawyer Jun 2013 #15
the democratic party has abandoned poor people, and I wouldn't exactly call this a liberal website. liberal_at_heart Jun 2013 #16
You got that right. Dawgs Jun 2013 #20
+1 nt rrneck Jun 2013 #25
Amen to both points. n/t QC Jun 2013 #30
Clinton and the Third Way threw the poor under the bus, LuvNewcastle Jun 2013 #33
That's how the GOP likes it BainsBane Jun 2013 #17
Blaming the GOP rrneck Jun 2013 #23
So what are WE doing that causes poverty in the South? ieoeja Jun 2013 #52
I don't have one. rrneck Jun 2013 #55
I love Southerners MannyGoldstein Jun 2013 #18
We can't right now. LuvNewcastle Jun 2013 #34
watch us get rid of Republican rule in VA carolinayellowdog Jun 2013 #49
They do not want our help. geek tragedy Jun 2013 #19
Thanks for lumping all of us together. Dawgs Jun 2013 #21
And mostly Democratic Senators, with the Republicans they do elect geek tragedy Jun 2013 #22
A fine libertarian attitude that. nt rrneck Jun 2013 #24
Sorry, but the Democratic Senators excuse is lame and you know it. Dawgs Jun 2013 #31
Nope JustAnotherGen Jun 2013 #39
yeah, like poor people are voting Texasgal Jun 2013 #66
I can't demand people vote a certain way JustAnotherGen Jun 2013 #27
We're all in the same boat. rrneck Jun 2013 #29
But who started the culture war JustAnotherGen Jun 2013 #32
You're doing good work and goodonya for it. rrneck Jun 2013 #37
I don't think this is condescending JustAnotherGen Jun 2013 #38
Heh. I was raised Southern Baptist. rrneck Jun 2013 #40
I was raised Southern Baptist too! JustAnotherGen Jun 2013 #41
I rail about the 1% as much as anybody and they deserve it. rrneck Jun 2013 #47
It isn't because those states are hording all the money. ieoeja Jun 2013 #54
They obviously aren't doing enough. rrneck Jun 2013 #56
It doesn't tell the whole story JustAnotherGen Jun 2013 #65
I agree. rrneck Jun 2013 #69
I have a question JustAnotherGen Jun 2013 #35
For some of us who were around in the 60s it feels like we have to do it all over again. Or maybe it jwirr Jun 2013 #36
Where conservatives live and actively oppress "the other", poverty reigns supreme SoCalDem Jun 2013 #44
And here I thought we were "one nation ..." Bake Jun 2013 #45
"...probably hailed from a blue state." Tuesday Afternoon Jun 2013 #51
Thank you! Lunacee_2013 Jun 2013 #58
Sounds like your grandma would be pretty cool to hang out with. nt rrneck Jun 2013 #60
Please remember Ronnie Ray Gun DonCoquixote Jun 2013 #63
Very true. Population density figures large in the dynamic. nt rrneck Jun 2013 #64
Virginia is weird on this map: most people rich, most places poor carolinayellowdog Jun 2013 #70
THat map can be overlaid on a number of others MNBrewer Jun 2013 #71
....chewing tobacco.... Spitfire of ATJ Jun 2013 #72
I grew up in rural Georgia MNBrewer Jun 2013 #74
A friend of mine had a brother visit from Pascagoula Mississippi,... Spitfire of ATJ Jun 2013 #78
How in the world can the counties in SD that comprise Pine Ridge not be deep red? KamaAina Jun 2013 #73
very poor, but very few people, so concentration is low? MNBrewer Jun 2013 #75
But the portion of the Navajo reservation in northeast AZ is dark red KamaAina Jun 2013 #76
WIthout a doubt Pine Ridge is known for poverty. MNBrewer Jun 2013 #77
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