interchange: I've met lots of people with black and white thinking who aren't conservatives, or at least would not identify or vote as such.
M: I believe I am correct to say that according to modern neurological research into the brain differences of self reported liberals and conservatives, the scientific evidence and therefore the scientifically proven fact is that conservatives engage in black and white thinking more than liberals do. That the behavior is more typical in one group over the other, of course, means only that it is more typical, not unique only to that group.
i: And if I were ever dictator, the first thing I would do is massively restructure the criminal justice system basically with the exact opposite approach to Clarke. I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to realize that grossly abusing the human rights of offenders does not help turn them into model citizens, especially when it is systemically rigged to massively disadvantage the poor, minorities, and the mentally ill. And most often it's the whole trifecta, and their crimes are direct consequences of this without the individual's conscious awareness of their act. I say dictator because I don't see this being possible through regular governmental process in my lifetime.
M: I see humanity as a sleeping machine, a mechanical entity, a giant amoeba flowing slowly this way and that lead hither and thither by unconscious processes of emotional feeding. But I also believe that one person can be as influential as ten, a hundred, or thousands if he or she is awake and knows where they are going. All we can do is try to pull in the right direction with our effectiveness a measure of our conscious awareness. You throw your pebbles in the pond of life not knowing what effect will come from the ripples. When I was a small child I had two toy . 's that I used to shoot cars Indians that drove down my street. I shot one and the driver slumped dead over the wheel. The effect of that was that I am sometimes present in the lives of children around me, aware of the world they see. My way of giving back, a ripple effect. It was such a very small thing but it was big to me.
Edit: It's a long game and there are major unconscious biases that hang on and fight back as they begin to break.
i: How anyone can be so simultaneously fragile that they project such hatred on the most vulnerable among us and so heinous to act upon it -- ouch.
M: I think you know my answer to that. Stockholm syndrome, conversion to the side that tortured them as children.
i: People who support these characters are wrong, but I can easily imagine it as a product of ignorance or at least something they couldn't actually do themselves.
M: I can't escape the feeling that I am also guilty. The world is dying before my eyes, as I see it, but I can't awaken from my sleep. I am a nobody.
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