Hrm. (Friday.)

[silveradept]

It was a good day to be an academic. Yes, it did mean that I spent most of the day listening to people talk about things I may not have a whole lot of interest in, but I manage to keep myself fed throughout the whole day because of it. And then I did a favour for the gaming convention group by helping seal and label and stamp the preregistration booklets. Then there was some hanging out at Barnes and Noble with some friends from the graduate school. So no real work was actually accomplished today. Perhaps tomorrow. Although tomorrow we may be forced to endure aggravating pop stars rather than self-deprecating librarians and researchers.

Apparently, building Wally World attracts the wrong kind of people, at least if you live in Livonia. I'd say something about how it attracts the wrong kind of people in terms of corporate greed that will do everything it can to push wages down, prevent unionization, and a few other nasty things. But instead, some people seem to think that "if you build it, they will come, and this is bad". Very strange.

There's also a couple bits here and there that you just blink at. Daughter expelled from Christian school because her parents are in a homosexual relationship. Their prerogative, although it may cause some people to twitch nastily. At the same time, this leads into another thing that I twitched mightily at when I read it in the paper the other day...

...you see, some organizations had a "coming out conservative" day a couple of days ago. They accused the university atmosphere of being hostile to conservatives (which, I suppose, it is - I would argue justifiably so, and argue that it stay that way in comparison to the rest of the state's views), and that they were having a day where people could find support in fellow conservatives so that they wouldn't feel they were alone. Most people who understand me might see why the next thing I said was "That's just wrong." I'm sure someone thought it was a clever idea, and that they were very proud of themselves for putting on the event. Making mockery of what is still a real problem in the United States (and possibly across the world) is somewhat tasteless. As someone who's read the satire newspapers around campus, I realize that tasteless is something that can still be turned into funny when presented properly. These conservatives were serious. And that wrecks things considerably. Deciding that your orientation is conservative and telling people about it is nowhere near the magnitude of deciding to accept one's sexuality and tell other people about it.

It stuck in my head enough that I write about it days after it happens. I didn't find it funny, and I'm sure they didn't either. But we're staring at it from very different viewpoints. I find it offensive. They probably found it clever. I would like to beat a considerable amount of people, starting with politicians, over the head until they realize that it is not race or creed or orientation or gender, or even socioeconomic status that determines whether a person will be a paragon of virtue or a reprobate. People are people, and they behave in ways far more complex than we imagine. Admittedly, some of those things above may contribute to situations (and their frequency) where it is easier to do good or evil. When people start treating people like people, then we'll see what people are like. And that applies to me, too. But I'd like to think I can achieve that point, where I treat each person as an individual, without resorting to the shorthand of anything other than personal experience.

Anyway, good night - still have things to possibly do tomorrow. Like the rest of my paper. About three hundred-fifty words to go. They seem to be the hardest ones, because writing about what I observe about observation is a little strange.

Comments

[wanderingbhikkh.livejournal.com]

Just of note...I love these updates. It's like reading the evening journal, except much friendlier.

[silveradept]

It looks like a compliment, it sounds likea compliment, if I poke it, it quacks... so it must be a compliment. That said, I don't get it.

[(Anonymous)]

One must remember that a lot of those asshats are the same people who went around with bandiads with purple hearts on them, thinking they were funny. But their numbers must be dropping, if they have to hold mixers to get enough fucktards together, then they must have horrified and driven away enough sane people that they are becoming a small (if annoyingly loud) minority.

[greyweirdo.livejournal.com]

Fucked fucking fuck fuckers!

That was me, you might have figured it out by the syntax, but I thought I'd mention.

[sdaisyk.livejournal.com]

You confused me!! Made me forget whose journal entry I was reading comments in and what I was going to type! (Its okay now, I figured it out)

[silveradept]

I'd like to believe that the reason this thing appeared was because they were a dying breed and that they were huddling for warmth. I know it isn't true.

And I think that if they want to make mockeries of things like this, then they shouldn't complain when we mock them for being the way they are. Fair trade-off, right? You make fun of one of our serious issue, and we'll make fun of one of your serious issues.

Except I suspect when we do it, it'll be funny.

[sdaisyk.livejournal.com]

You had a conservative coming out day? We had Dr. Jeff Fugate, conservative baptist minister who speaks around the country to church groups come and speak about "Finding the Truth in a Relativist Age"...he was so against relativism that he used it to make his entire argument which was soooo below a Liberal arts college audience. That audience, incidently, was almost empty until the people who had been standing outside with anti-hate and such signs came in to participate in the speech (more like a sermon with a question and answer session afterwards), then it at least doubled if not tripled.

That was on a Tuesday, the following Monday? We had Karen Armstrong (if you don't know who that is, go find out!!) come and talk about the rise Fundamentalism in response to a sense that secularism is pushing God out of God's rightful place at the center of society. She talked about Fear being the common thread for all fundamentalists...fear of the very things we use to try and show them the errors of their ways...they support Creationism, they are scared of science taking over and burying their opinion alive and so quoting science and genetic evidence will only serve to put them even more on the defensive. It was a good talk...

I should have just made this an entry in my own journal, oh well. Maybe later in a different form. Until then, feel special.

[silveradept]

I am special.

Sounds like you have the same sort of atmosphere we do. Which is probably why people like Mr. Fugate are complaining about "relativism" and trying to equate "liberals" with "terrists."

[blacktigr.livejournal.com]

Livonia already *has* a WalMart. I don't understand what the hell these people are afraid of...that isn't already happening.

[silveradept]

Might be an old article, for all I know. It's just another reason to believe that the "blue-state" ness is really the illusion of large voting blocks of unionized workers and left-leaning college students. The rest of the state seems as solidly red as it can get.

I suspect they're afraid of the things that they've always been afraid of - that the degenerate savages are going to spoil their pristine and proper way of life by forcing them to realize that there is a world outside their gated communities.

[fred-smith.livejournal.com]

The gay parents thing is disgusting. But I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you about the "coming out conservative" idea.

Mostly, I hate the right wing intensely. They are the butt of many jokes and I change my opinion of people based on their politics. I'm also a pretty good arguer, to be fair. Some conservatives may not stand a chance if I targetted them.

Thus, to admit to being right wing is a pretty courageous act in some environments. I don't think they should get persecution complexes any more than left-wingers should. Being liberal is corageous too in some environments. The only problem I see is it seems to indicate that they are being treated as an underclass.

Politics is a big thing, it does hurt people to have different beliefs to their peers.

[silveradept]

Hrm. Probably a perspective problem for me, then. I can't quite get my head around it - if I abstract away the particular names, I can understand, as in some countries, voicing an opinion that's not in lockstep with the government means a quick disappearance in the middle of the night... if you're lucky. I don't see that as happening too much here. (Of course, I may not be seeing all of it.)

You're right about political beliefs being damaging, but it's in social relations, mostly. I don't think there are roving gangs of liberals who physically beat people and try to kill them because they're conservatives in this country. That's more what I meant about there being magnitudes of differences.

I suppose some people might think of it as an equivalent sort of risk to say they're a conservative on a liberal college campus, but it doesn't compute for me.

[fred-smith.livejournal.com]

Thing is, coming out about anything to your friends and co-workers is unlikely to lead to getting murdered, except in extreme circumstances. Though the amount of violence against minorities is disgusting and thats not an issue with politics here, thankfully.

One may find you lose friends, or lose their respect though. This may not be as serious as violence but its still a problem that should be dealt with.

I want to live in a world where people can feel comfortable and happy. Sometimes that means understanding that people think different things to me. Its a lesson I still need to learn.

[silveradept]

Understandable. I think I want to live in the same world you do. I can see where loss of respect or friendship might make "coming out conservative" as a slightly more ornerous and dangerous task than, say, professing a preference for an ice cream flavour. Perhaps it's me, but I don't see politics as one of those things to get aggravated over on principle. Of course, I don't see something like gender identity as something to get aggravated over, either, but a lot more people seem to about that than about politics.

[fred-smith.livejournal.com]

Thats true. I'd say its slightly different for me. If a friend said they wanted a sex change, liked to have sex with the same sex or were in a 24/7 bondage relationship I would assimilate that information and I'd think no less of them. However, if someone tells me they're a Liberatian, I'll be concerned and it might affect my opinion of them. Thats really my problem which I need to work on.

[silveradept]

That may not be a problem, excepting in the sense that we tense up over the matter before getting the full explanation. I do the same thing, at the moment, with people who call themselves Christian. I try to discreetly figure out where on that spectrum they fall (most of the people who go about claiming their Christianity make it abundantly clear where they are in relation to Christ's teaching), but my first reaction is to be nervous and slightly worried.

It may be a reasonable defensive mechanism, as if you want to ward off pointless arguments that would waste both of your time. But so long as you're willing to get off that defensive state when you find out that they aren't going to eat babies or sacrifice virgins, I think you're still okay.

[fred-smith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you are probably right there. I wonder if a lot of bigotry isn't the same. It seems to me that most people who hold sweeping anti-Homosexual/American/Muslim/Whatever views are willing to make exceptions for people they've known long enough to think are okay. Maybe its a mis-placed defence mechanism for some.

[silveradept]

If that's the case, though, I would want to know why that defensive mechanism was constructed in the first place, and what rationale it has for continued existence. I suspect a lot of those answers will revolve around vague fears of some sort about moral degeneracy and other hard-to-pin topics. If they're willing to make exceptions for people that they know, then why not for everyone else?

[fred-smith.livejournal.com]

I guess its possible they ahave heard bad things from the media and from people who feel threatened by marginalised groups. Its sad that its happens. Its also possible that they have bad experiences to back up prejudices.

[silveradept]

Is this a case of selective memory, though? I don't doubt taht they may have had bad things drilled into their heads by teachers, paretns, peers, pulpit-pounders or otherwise, but then are they selectively remembering the bad things that reinforce the stereotype and forgetting the otherwise-unremarkable amount of time that they haven't had bad times with people they would otherwise complain about?

It's understandable if that's happening, although certainly not condonable.

[fred-smith.livejournal.com]

Its a sign of weakness and ignorance. Its human, unfortunately. I believe that the best I can do is to overcome it myself.

[silveradept]

In that we agree. I must strive to overcome my weaknesses.

[wanderingbhikkh.livejournal.com]

For I AM a libertarian (but a fairly moderate one).

[fred-smith.livejournal.com]

Hey, as long as you do it in a safe and hygienic environment, and don't believe that personal charity would provide more money for the poor and needy than taxation, because the rich are so well known for wanting to give away piles of money.

My best friend is a Libertarian, as a matter of fact. They're working on a completely false set of assumptions. But I have learnt to just not discuss it. Doesn't make them a bad person. They aren't conservative, for instance.