- Jan 27, 2014
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When I was a conservative, I fretted about people and issues from faraway places that had zero actual impact on my daily life. The terror was both illogical and very real.
,.. sounds like something was, defective, in this person's mind,...
But, onto more important matters;
Weve just witnessed the result of an election fueled by negativity and disinformation, and people are afraid. They fear ISIS, Ebola and the boogeymen that inhabit the prehistoric recesses of the reptilian brain. These fears are overblown, to say the least, but we are being intentionally manipulated by conservative voices that thrive on fear to win elections or ratings. To their enduring shame, they have no concern for the damage they do to institutions and people when playing to the worst instincts of humanity.
http://www.salon.com/2014/11/10/i_w..._evoked_my_past_of_shame_terror_and_fox_news/
So, a few questions spring to mind,...
#1 - Can the conservative brain defect be 'cured'? This person claims to have had it. And, claims to be over it. I didn't read anything about an actual pill. What is this man talking about, on how he had it,.. how did it go away??
#2 - He mentions shame (above quote) & regret (right below);
So, does that mean that conservatives do indeed see and recognize their own double standards, which derive from their fear of everything? Not only are they wrought with fear, but, they are witnessing and conscious of their contradictory actions, which defy logic. That's pretty awful. It is like they literally can not control themselves.That we want to live and thrive is natural, but when we let our instincts damage reason, our nation and indeed our basic humanity suffers. I regret letting cruelty, fear and tribalism drive my choices.
#3 - Let's be honest,... was this guy REALLY a conservative? I don't think so. I think he was liberal, who got caught up in the waves of fear - especially when you read about what he agonized over and how.
More importantly,..
#4 - Does the conservative mind really need to be 'cured'? I say no. I believe that society is quite the organic being. Eventually, in a few hundred years, after we've grown tired of listening to people scream, yell, warn, alarm and kvetch over false fears - we'll just nod and smile as we go on our lives, without living with the byproducts of logic strangling fear ourselves, or bending to the demands of a conservative mind - like how this author claims to have lived.
Also, this fear is part of their being,..
Just a couple of weeks ago, I sat in a professional seminar about the emotions we bring to work every day. The speaker, Chris Olex, started with a discussion of the four basic emotions: happy, sad, angry and afraid, but fear was the runaway star of the show. Olex spent almost the entire session trying to get the attendees to understand how fear drives our most primitive and unreasonable reactions. She spent a great deal of time explaining the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for our basic survival.
Often called reptilian, the amygdala houses our fear and anger, also known as the basic two planks of the Republican Party platform. It creates in some people an animalistic fear of the ill-defined other who is out to take your job, collect unearned government benefits or have kinky sex with your daughter. Its a classic amygdala play.
,.. it is not going to go away by popping a pill,.. or 'reasoning' with the conservatives. But, I believe, conservatives will eventually go away.
