Pennsylvania, so it varies. My friends are of diverse backgrounds, but my extended family is very red and that was how I was raised.
Most people I talk to just follow what “their people” tell them and don’t learn about it any more. We’re on a political community because we’re into it, but the majority of people don’t know or care beyond the sales pitch they get from whomever their preferred media source is.
I find them more politically ignorant than malicious. They’ll say stupid stuff, but if you can get conversation going to where you can present things in a way that is equitable to most people you get “that sounds like a good idea” but tell them that’s a lefty stance and they dig in their heals and won’t believe it.
I’ll hear them say racist or sexist or homophobic things, but they’ve always been respectful to my girlfriends, my gay friends, and I’ve never actually seen them be rude to anyone they thought for their race. They’re just scared of shit they don’t know. Put something in front of them, they see it isn’t scary, and they can accept it because now it’s familiar.
The in laws are worse than my family, but they all drove 6 hours to the one cousin’s lesbian interracial half Jewish, half Christian wedding. They hated the food because it had flavor, but they didn’t make a deal about it in public, and they had a great time and celebrated them as much as at any other wedding, and they love her and accept them both.
Trust me, the cognitive dissonance blows my mind, and it’s hard to accept the duality that people can talk one way and support hateful things while they could turn around and be nice to the people they were just hating on, but that has been my years of experience with people here.
I got experience outside my bubble and learned to love it. I stopped being selfish, learned empathy for strangers, and started trying to understand issues, even if they didn’t directly affect me. They are capable of that. It might never work, but they’re not hopeless. I can’t say I’ve ever met someone who would look at anyone else and to their face wish harm or struggle upon them. They might not be immediately comfortable around them, but I can’t say anyone would wish something negative for them.
I know people that evil do exist, but I again say that is not the majority of people. Nowhere close to it. If we can’t see the potential of the other third to half of our country, we’re done for.
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Pennsylvania, so it varies. My friends are of diverse backgrounds, but my extended family is very red and that was how I was raised.
Most people I talk to just follow what “their people” tell them and don’t learn about it any more. We’re on a political community because we’re into it, but the majority of people don’t know or care beyond the sales pitch they get from whomever their preferred media source is.
I find them more politically ignorant than malicious. They’ll say stupid stuff, but if you can get conversation going to where you can present things in a way that is equitable to most people you get “that sounds like a good idea” but tell them that’s a lefty stance and they dig in their heals and won’t believe it.
I’ll hear them say racist or sexist or homophobic things, but they’ve always been respectful to my girlfriends, my gay friends, and I’ve never actually seen them be rude to anyone they thought for their race. They’re just scared of shit they don’t know. Put something in front of them, they see it isn’t scary, and they can accept it because now it’s familiar.
The in laws are worse than my family, but they all drove 6 hours to the one cousin’s lesbian interracial half Jewish, half Christian wedding. They hated the food because it had flavor, but they didn’t make a deal about it in public, and they had a great time and celebrated them as much as at any other wedding, and they love her and accept them both.
Trust me, the cognitive dissonance blows my mind, and it’s hard to accept the duality that people can talk one way and support hateful things while they could turn around and be nice to the people they were just hating on, but that has been my years of experience with people here.
I got experience outside my bubble and learned to love it. I stopped being selfish, learned empathy for strangers, and started trying to understand issues, even if they didn’t directly affect me. They are capable of that. It might never work, but they’re not hopeless. I can’t say I’ve ever met someone who would look at anyone else and to their face wish harm or struggle upon them. They might not be immediately comfortable around them, but I can’t say anyone would wish something negative for them.
I know people that evil do exist, but I again say that is not the majority of people. Nowhere close to it. If we can’t see the potential of the other third to half of our country, we’re done for.
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