Sunday, November 14, 2010

What we need is a system for exit counseling, like they have for cults

I keep hearing the same shit from those enveloped by the "fear". Same sad old arguments. Same major disconnect from what is staring them straight in the face. And I can't help but think about how culty they are, both dems and republicans. Both legacy parties give their members specific groups to hate, to think of as a threat. Not unlike that horrid scene in A Handmaid's Tale where all the handmaids tear a man to shreds for raping a pregnant handmaid and killing the child (when in reality he was part of the resistance). Sure, you've got it bad, but here's a fresh body to eviscerate. Both legacy parties give their followers specific talking points to repeat ad nauseum (I actually just got the OLD standard "communism fell because commies were unmotivated to work because the government took care of them line- for real). You know the modern lines- Obama is a socialist from the right, Progressives are a bunch of whiny titty babies who ruin everything from the left.

So how do we wake them up? How do we shake off all the bullshit beliefs they are buried under without wanting to swallow a bullet ourselves in frustration and tedium (because dayyyuuuum, it's tedious and good lord they can be vicious little twits.)

What I do know is that when I remove the left/right rhetoric and just tell people what I want from my government, they almost universally agree, regardless of party. I want work to pay a wage people can live on. I want people to be able to get healthcare because they need it and not because they are wealthy enough to deserve it. I want everyone to have enough healthy food to eat. I want kids to have good schools to go to and for college to really be accessible for everyone. I want the unpaid contributions to society to count for something, like mothers and pwd who can't work at a traditional job but still are a contributing part of society.

What I keep hearing from people is the same line "Yeah of course those things would be awesome, but we'll never get that". And that is a problem. Small, boxed in thinking courtesy of your traditional legacy parties. 80 percent of us need the same things, those 4 old freedoms that Roosevelt wanted, but specifically we need freedom from want and freedom from fear. And our current system is putting the screws to us hard on both accounts (thank you pervy TSA workers for adding to the fear levels with your government approved sexual assaults).

What little bit of googling I did about exit counseling for cultists involved being respectful of the cultist's beliefs, while gently countering them with facts. I admit, I often get tangled on this part. I'm just tired of having the same argument, and those legacy party cultists sure aren't respectful back.

But..... Once upon a time there was a world where the idea of a democratic government was something that only existed in ancient times. And once upon a time there was a world where women voting was seen as something that "would be awesome, but we'll never get that". Same is true for a 40 hour work week, overtime pay and OSHA regulations. Same is true for free public education. You don't get anything if you don't know what you want. And for the cultists, all they know to want is that the other side doesn't win. We've got to give them bigger, better things to fight for than fight with each other (and us).

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