My post was intended to be non-partisan.

In my experience rude, condescending, arrogant, and generally nasty language is about equally distributed from both the far left and the far right of the political spectrum. There are few clean hands in this regard.

I place a high value on the polite exchange of ideas. It saddens me that so many people now defend incivility. Maybe it’s a generational thing, I’m pretty old

@OwlInASack the thing is that bot all Republicans are conservatives. A very large portion of them are people who vote that way because the people around them do. That's how humans work. When you frame it as a war and put out there insults calling them and their loved ones ignorant it is actively convincing them to stay back rather than agree with you.

I personally find treating others with different opinions like that to be offensive and childish. That's not my argument though. My feelings don't matter all that much.

The point is that it is working against whatever cause you are arguing for rather than for it. In the case of politics It matters because things like climate change, judges, prison reform, gender issues exc are at stake
and should more important than egos.

If you put the ego aside and listen you will find points of agreement on almost any subject there is with almost any conservative.

If you only fight over the hard line that neither of you will change on you aren't helping anyway.

Also if you do manage to say something that "hits" you will almost never witness them change their mind and hear them admit it. That's not how people work. It would have to fester for a while and be combine with other stuff they see. As well as the minds of other people who see the post or here the conversation. Words you put out their sometimes matter when you don't know.

I write alot of posts on FB and some here and I don't always follow that because I am a ragey frustrated person. I do try though.

If I take the time to put something out there its important enough to me that I think others should agree.

@MsAl well that's nice. What if they don't agree that it's importaint to them?

@1of5 Then I move on and talk to someone else who is more open to the concept.

@1of5 Also I try to remember that people have pride and wouldnt tell me even if I did get to them a bit.
If I don't treat them badly the words I use could be something that helps them come around later. If I'm a butthole it is more likely those words will prevent them from doing so.

It's a goal oriented approach and one must decide what the goal is. If the goal is to get the hard core conservative troll to admit you are right in that moment then that will obviously never happen. My goal is to move as many people as possible to my point of view.

@MsAl if it's the concept itself that's the issue then you've just immediately dismissed them, in your own passive aggressive way, as too stupid to "get" the concept.

Oh yes, my words carry so much meaning and weight that they'll stick with someone I disagree with forever and maybe, just possibly, convince them I was right later. Sorry, but I checked my ego before entering that door long ago.