Playing Dirty
We hear people ask, “Why can’t progressives play as dirty as today’s GOP?”
The best answer is that it’s not an option. You either act fairly and honestly, or you’re just a different flavor of a political party of thugs that is aggressively trampling over rule of law.
As I was just explaining to my son, most people outside our country are deeply saddened, and, in fact, utterly astonished at what’s happened here re: Trumpism, hate, ignorance, lies, and most of all, the attempt to overthrow American democracy.
As someone told me, “We simply feel sorry for you. We never thought anything like this could happen in the United States, a nation previously regarded as honest, sane, and successful. You were the envy of the Earth.”
On a practical level, here’s another point to be made about progressives: we tend to stay out of prison.
There is something else that you should tell your son, while reminding others also.
People with the GOP way of thinking and acting — were actually taught to “be / think” the way they are.
They didn’t start down that path just by themselves.
Donald Trump is the best example ever of what a totally corrupt / screwed up family can do to a child from the day it was born — when you look at his father and mother — and that family.
And as the apple from the tree — he has perpetuated that way of thinking and acting as can clearly be seen in his children — who have ended up just like him.
It’s still unknown about Barron, Trump’s youngest — but I wouldn’t bet on him ending up being any different — seeing how his mother has chosen to stay in that corrupt clown car / circus family.
A baby, when born — does not have any of that filth in him or her.
It is totally innocent and will be taught to be whatever it ends up being through it’s parents, family and religion — if that is included in the “growing up process”.
It always starts with whomever brought it into the world, whehter they, the immediate family, are “woke” by being and having positive feelings for others, wanting to do good for others, not cheating, not lying, and all things opposite to what Trump was exposed to.
And it is obvious, that by his GOP followers glomming onto him like leeches — they recognise that he is what they want to be — totally devoid of having any responsibility for having any human decency in their lives.
“Being Good” is a big conscencious decision to make — because it caries the responsibilities of caring for othes, of thinking and acting good toward others, of telling the thruth — when doing so can really hurt you (because you may have really screwed up).
The GOP way of thinking, when really “drilled down” / examined — ends up being: they want to be free of all of that responsibility.
They don’t want / can’t handle the responsibilities of being in any kind of good / honest / reciprical relationship with anything or anyone.
It’s all about “them being “put upon / looked down on / and their problems” and nothing else matters.
Well –if a “GOPer” feels as described just above — there has to be a pretty good reason for the rest of us to look upon them as we do don’t you think!
“Concious decision” Dude — you llowed / wanted to put yourself there.
Not letting that kind of thinking to even get started is where parenting comes in — right from the “get-go”.
“Parenting”, from time immemorial, developed established ways of rearing babies, into good “woke” kids, into good “woke” adults.
But parenting has been mainly forgotten for the last couple of generations at least — if some of the present day end results are an example.
In the animal world — after a time — the kids are “kicked out of the house — so they can either sink or swim.
And if the parents did a good job – the kids will be / do just fine in the long run.
“Humans” as a race, over millinia; came up with a really good way of creating generally good, “woke” populations.
Kids were generatlly “parented / molded” into being good, responsible, self reliant individuals — not a bunch of whining “sheep with an iphone growing out of ther hand”.
Parents spent the time guiding their kids — until they forgot that kids needed guidance, because they were to busy “getting mine for me” — which their kids saw up “close and personal”.
“Actions have consequences” — and it sounds like you are doing it the old fashioned way — which works.
Good on you.