To me it is shocking that someone your age can't distinguish between liberals and conservatives. There are fundamental distinctions between the two factions, both in theory and practice. I would explain it to you but if you haven't picked it up in 67 years I would probably be wasting my breath. Shameful.

@LovinLarge My point was that though they have different beliefs they behave pretty much the same. Tis a pity that you didn't get that.

@ClassicalRebel I didn't get it because it's not true. I could give 100 recent examples but you didn't give a single one. Your argument is just a little too close to the logical fallacy that "both parties are the same" for me not to recognize you as a conservative trying to benefit from denying the distinctions between conservatives and liberals. I was born at night but not last night.

@LovinLarge I'm not a conservative, I'm a moderate.

@ClassicalRebel There's no political ideology called "moderate". There are moderate conservatives snd there are moderate liberals but conservatism and liberalism are distinct political ideologies. If you're suggesting that a moderate falls in between the two, I think it is really more if a matter of not having decided where you fit in.

To differentiate them on the basis of the issues you raised of intolerance and control, I contrast the book banning and not being able to say "gay" in Florida schools with the protection of female reproductive rights in blue states. Liberals don't want you tell you how you live your life, they want you and everyone else to have as many choices as possible available to you. Conservatives want to limit your choices to things they approve of, especially if you don't belong to the dominant race, ethnicity, gender or social caste. The parties aren't the same and the beliefs aren't the same.

Smooth!

Don't you think it's important to resist their attempts to co-opt a concept with historical significance for the black community? After all, black history IS American history.

@LovinLarge I believe he means the people that keep bringing up “wokeness” almost 100% of the time are right wing sympathizers like Bill Mayer and everyone to the right of him, and they are not our friends. So the moment I hear the word woke I know I’m hearing a fascist. Most of us never think of ourselves as woke because cultural misappropriation, but the fascist mean progressives more then anyone else and if they aren’t appealing to racist they call us communists or worse while supporting Russia.
Knowing the history is good, the fascist rewrite history at every opportunity. They almost made 300+ murders in Tulsa Oklahoma vanish from history. Damn Right we know what this is about.
Money
Because
Money = power

@Willow_Wisp Thank you for explaining that so very well, I hope you are right. The improper use of that particular word is particularly offensive. I rather liken it to the "n" word in that the community should have exclusive use.

edit - never mind, the wikipedia entry seems about what I was looking for, when I asked if there was a helpful definition somewhere.
[en.wikipedia.org]

Depends on how familiar they are with cultural history, especially their own.

[texasmonthly.com]

Woke began almost 100 years ago as a reminder within the African American community that they needed to be alive to the ills of racism. It was still a very dangerous time for their community, and always has been.

CRT is a way of trying to figure out how to effectively understand and deal with systemic racism and other avenues of oppression.

Conservatives oppose the acknowledgement of contemporary racism, systemic racism and other forms of oppression (sexism, homophobia, classism, etc.) because they favor inequality that allows the privileged to do exceptionally well while everyone else falls behind. There are more than 22 million millionaires (and almost 1000 billionaires) in this country while most Americans don't have $1000 in savings.

I wanted to share these things with you because I know you are one of the good guys.

@LovinLarge Thanks. I knew that the term had originated in the African American community but didn't realize how long ago.

I met an elderly Man of Color, a friend's great uncle. He told me about walking a few hundred miles in the South to relocate when he was a young man and about the risks involved. Finding a place to hide before sundown, exposure to the elements. I cried, my eyes are welling up now, too. Changing textbooks doesn't change history. I saw the history in that man's eyes and I will never forget it. It's perfectly reasonable to teach high school kids the true history including slavery and what as done to Native Americans.

@MizJ Thank you, what a powerful story. Not everyone would have been able to not just hear but feel his experience like you did, and I bet he knew you did, too.

In my heart of hearts, I'm not sure I believe that there is any coming back from how we've treated entire cultures, which is exactly why it's our duty to do everything we can to try and that starts with acknowledging the ugliness of our shared history.

@LovinLarge I am nearly certain that I am the only white person he has told the story to and if I hadn't known the family for more than a decade I wouldn't have had the honor of hearing it. I CHOSE to to truly listen. In hindsight it angers me that I wasn't taught real history.

History can't be changed but it can be acknowledged. I chose to listen, others can also make that choice.

@MizJ Oh, racism is alive and well in the U.S. It never stopped. My ex so was 20 years old when the Civil Rights Bill was signed in 1960. He was finally allowed to do stuff all white folk are born to. Does not mean it stopped the Oakland, CA police from cracking his head open when he was walking down the street in a white part of town. That was the 1960s but really not much seems to have changed for many black Americans.
Professor Heather Cox Richardson has a youtube series called the American Paradox that is worth a listen.

@silverotter11 So. Fucking. Sad. Until 1980 there was s street named Lynching Tree Drive here in Melbourne. WTF. [en.wikipedia.org].

We're not moving forward, the MAGA movement seems to have made it worse, or maybe its more in the open.

@LovinLarge
Thank you for giving me a basic background. I am so very proud of my corrupt town. We have officials taking every penny they can, tweakers climbing trees, kids trying to steal cars while someone is driving it, and any number of child sex crimes. It disgusts me that this place has made national news, but one little known fact is that most of us are colorblind when it comes to humanity.

@BOBdammit Entirely my pleasure. Diversity is the nectar of life.