quick political note
I'm not sure where this notion that "independents" are all conservatives, or even people more right-leaning than Republicans, comes from. I am an independent. My dad, raised Republican and Christian in (mostly) South Carolina, is maybe what I'd think of as a "true" independent, in that he's clearly not just a disgruntled would-be Republican or Democrat (he'd perhaps consider voting Republican if they were ever in practice anything like any of their higher-minded rhetoric about smaller government and such, and liked the McCain of >10 years ago). My mom, of similar background, would probably be registered "independent" but decided to change her affiliation to Green (from Republican, I believe) back in 2000.
I guess what I mean to communicate here is the following:
-- Beware the slippery assumptions, encouraged mostly by people on the right, that anyone registered Independent will end up going Republican in the clutch.
and, less directly related, but further thoughts:
-- The past 10 years have obviously not been good to the Republican party. Don't be fooled, the crazy rhetoric going on right now is generally symptomatic of the desperate flailings of politicians both very aware of their party's decline and yet totally unaware of their own contributions towards it, and the confusion of its members as they try to latch onto one narrative after another as each momentarily "plausible" justification for the weirdness in which they find themselves falls apart.
-- The above condition, however, is not such a great one for civil society.
-- Okay, to tie this back in -- It's obvious that my parents are sort of unusual examples, in that they both are well-educated, have a comfortable income, have lived in several different parts of the country by now, etc. But, they represent something about human beings that I think is getting grossly overlooked all the time these days: it is possible to change your mind. It is possible to hold a certain position for a long time, but come to adopt a new view after certain events, convincing arguments, new evidence, even just personal growth and so forth. I feel like part of The Problem in current political conversations is that people are viewed as static sets of assertions that will never change and whose job it is, politically speaking, to simply voice themselves loud enough (and cow everyone else into submission, I suppose?) This is the sort of thing that gives the above-linked craziness some of its steam -- if everyone just IS a certain way politically, especially politicians, then it certainly does seem expedient to just start killing people off, if unethical. I have no idea how one would go about doing this, but I think things would really benefit if we could start viewing ourselves and each other in a more dynamical way.
I guess what I mean to communicate here is the following:
-- Beware the slippery assumptions, encouraged mostly by people on the right, that anyone registered Independent will end up going Republican in the clutch.
and, less directly related, but further thoughts:
-- The past 10 years have obviously not been good to the Republican party. Don't be fooled, the crazy rhetoric going on right now is generally symptomatic of the desperate flailings of politicians both very aware of their party's decline and yet totally unaware of their own contributions towards it, and the confusion of its members as they try to latch onto one narrative after another as each momentarily "plausible" justification for the weirdness in which they find themselves falls apart.
-- The above condition, however, is not such a great one for civil society.
-- Okay, to tie this back in -- It's obvious that my parents are sort of unusual examples, in that they both are well-educated, have a comfortable income, have lived in several different parts of the country by now, etc. But, they represent something about human beings that I think is getting grossly overlooked all the time these days: it is possible to change your mind. It is possible to hold a certain position for a long time, but come to adopt a new view after certain events, convincing arguments, new evidence, even just personal growth and so forth. I feel like part of The Problem in current political conversations is that people are viewed as static sets of assertions that will never change and whose job it is, politically speaking, to simply voice themselves loud enough (and cow everyone else into submission, I suppose?) This is the sort of thing that gives the above-linked craziness some of its steam -- if everyone just IS a certain way politically, especially politicians, then it certainly does seem expedient to just start killing people off, if unethical. I have no idea how one would go about doing this, but I think things would really benefit if we could start viewing ourselves and each other in a more dynamical way.