I am so friggin tired of the bullshit. As my readers are aware, the last 3 years of Covid were painful for me. I live in Hood River, Oregon, which I’m told is the most democratic county in all of Oregon. Prior to the pandemic, that was fine with me. As a lifelong, liberal Democratic activist, you might say I was comfortable surrounded by like minded people. Enter Covid. Those 3 years were likely the loneliest years of my life. As an unvaccinated person, despite my medical exemption, my husband and I were persona non grata to our community and beyond. We weren’t invited to social events, weddings, you name it, indoors or out, we were excluded from everything.
Totally agree with you Michelle. I have experienced the same issues with most of the "educated". I have come to realize that the smart, educated professionals are more entrenched in their beliefs than others. Whenever I get into a cab anywhere in the world, I find 90% of the drivers are awake. I've realized that the educated professionals have had a lifelong history of trusting authority ( myself included until now), many of them spend years and lots of $ to become more educated, and then they themselves become the authority. It is nearly impossible for them to let that go. It is no longer about following information or critical thinking, it literally becomes a religion. Getting someone to change their religion is damn near impossible.
Thank you Michelle for, once again, cogently pointing out to us the continuing absurdities within which we now live. The psychological and cultural forces now operating on so many levels throughout the world are causing greater and greater entrenchment into the diverse political and cultural perspectives that separate and isolate us more and more. The ability and opportunity to have open and straightforward discussions, with the possibility of having ones perspective shift, is long gone due to the extreme entrenchment of beliefs. One of the most influential books ever written about methods for persuading people - "Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert Cialdini was (and maybe in some respects still is) the go to book to help understand how best to communicate with people to help shift perspectives. Unfortunately, however, the continued migration (psychological, emotional and physical) into discreet and entrenched silos of psychological, emotional, political and cultural influence, has rendered Cialdini's strategies less and less effective. Maybe, that is why we are seeing the various power groups using more and more weaponized versions of those strategies.
Thanks for this and your efforts to get Turtles All the Way Down into your library. At least you raised some consciousness. I am 99% Ashkenazi, 1% Baltic. I marched in the RFK, Jr contingent of the July 4 parade and got booed. Of course I experienced all the same things you did but found a new network of friends in DC & Phila. My diagnosis - political hysteria.
A lot of Trump.supporters are flirting with the idea of jumping ship and voting for RFK Jr. They like his position on the covid shots and they also like that he's not a Bush democrat warmonger and pro-censorship like most of the other Dems. What turns some of them off is they think he's a climate nut and wants to roll back the industrial revolution. I haven't seen any evidencethat he is. He's moderate on climate and he needs to be if he's serious about winning.
Trump is popular because he is perceived as an outsider who might have had the money and power to end the criminal cabal that is the US Government. People are willing to ignore his narcissism for that broader goal. Kennedy has the same goal.
Excellent piece, Michelle. I continually get the same response from my many liberal friends — many of them in the news business. It’s heartbreaking.
Totally agree with you Michelle. I have experienced the same issues with most of the "educated". I have come to realize that the smart, educated professionals are more entrenched in their beliefs than others. Whenever I get into a cab anywhere in the world, I find 90% of the drivers are awake. I've realized that the educated professionals have had a lifelong history of trusting authority ( myself included until now), many of them spend years and lots of $ to become more educated, and then they themselves become the authority. It is nearly impossible for them to let that go. It is no longer about following information or critical thinking, it literally becomes a religion. Getting someone to change their religion is damn near impossible.
Thank you Michelle for, once again, cogently pointing out to us the continuing absurdities within which we now live. The psychological and cultural forces now operating on so many levels throughout the world are causing greater and greater entrenchment into the diverse political and cultural perspectives that separate and isolate us more and more. The ability and opportunity to have open and straightforward discussions, with the possibility of having ones perspective shift, is long gone due to the extreme entrenchment of beliefs. One of the most influential books ever written about methods for persuading people - "Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert Cialdini was (and maybe in some respects still is) the go to book to help understand how best to communicate with people to help shift perspectives. Unfortunately, however, the continued migration (psychological, emotional and physical) into discreet and entrenched silos of psychological, emotional, political and cultural influence, has rendered Cialdini's strategies less and less effective. Maybe, that is why we are seeing the various power groups using more and more weaponized versions of those strategies.
Thanks for this and your efforts to get Turtles All the Way Down into your library. At least you raised some consciousness. I am 99% Ashkenazi, 1% Baltic. I marched in the RFK, Jr contingent of the July 4 parade and got booed. Of course I experienced all the same things you did but found a new network of friends in DC & Phila. My diagnosis - political hysteria.
A lot of Trump.supporters are flirting with the idea of jumping ship and voting for RFK Jr. They like his position on the covid shots and they also like that he's not a Bush democrat warmonger and pro-censorship like most of the other Dems. What turns some of them off is they think he's a climate nut and wants to roll back the industrial revolution. I haven't seen any evidencethat he is. He's moderate on climate and he needs to be if he's serious about winning.
Trump is popular because he is perceived as an outsider who might have had the money and power to end the criminal cabal that is the US Government. People are willing to ignore his narcissism for that broader goal. Kennedy has the same goal.