How about a pre-holiday reset?

1. 0

   PrettyPantherposted 3 years ago

   I noticed that when a new poster shared some basic personal info about her life it prompted another to realize she had been a bit too quick to pigeonhole her. Some of us have been posting here for years and have revealed bits and pieces of our lives. Some have shared almost nothing, which is, of course, just fine.
   
   I'm pretty sure that all of us get tired of being stereotyped or having others make assumptions about our views, or even our lives, based on on labels such as liberal, conservative, Democrat or Republican and many others. For example, more than one person here has repeatedly claimed that people vote for Democrats because they want "freebies" like cell phones, food, and health care. I have voted Democratic most of the time but have never applied for or received a Mmm y freebies. The closest I came was the twoweeks' unemployment I received about 30 years ago.
   
   I am game for sharing a bit more about myself to perhaps poke a few holes in those stereotypes and maybe gain a little more understanding. Maybe some of you are also willing?
   
   I'll put my comments in a separate reply.

   replyreport
   1. 89

      Kyler J Falkposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Liberals assume I'm conservative, and conservatives assume I am liberal. Fact of the matter is I hate politics and only participate, and write on such subjects, because people seem to want to immerse themselves in their own, and the vitriol of others. I rarely share my real opinion, almost never in my own writings, and I even express that over and over again to no avail.
      
      My political beliefs in a nutshell, if I had to have any: I'd like to see the welfare system refocused to schooling and employment opportunities for those who need it along with all that would require, a universal basic income for housing and healthcare, and an increase in censorship on social media as it concerns politics and sciences because the ignorant should not be allowed to spread information contrary to what is staunchly proven.
      
      That's probably my most extreme belief, that people who do not seek to be in a position of power to change politics and sciences should not be allowed a public forum to discuss it outside of speaking directly to their representatives. Representatives should be made even more accessible as well, to ensure they have no choice but to address the people they govern directly or through aids, so as to streamline such serious and far-reaching censorship. With the introduction of international social media, such deep interconnection, I think we can all agree that the value of the personal opinion is far less than that of spreading factual information.
      
      Then again, people ignorantly find themselves to be so valuable that they'll pay people like me to write on their opinions and spread it to as many others as I can, so they'll fight the idea of being publicly censored tooth and nail. Even I will do so because of my conditioning to enjoy near-limitless freedom of speech. Crazy world we live in!
      
      As for other people's stances and opinions, so long as they aren't seeking to be performatively cruel and hurt others, or sway them to damaging idealism for the purpose of manipulation, then I don't care what others believe in any sense.
      
      Cool idea for a post, and thanks for the outlet.

      replyreport
      1. 0

         PrettyPantherposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         I love the internet but I despise how so many people think they can read a few articles of dubious source and  "decide for themselves" whether experts on complex issues like climate change or pandemic response are "correct." Unless you have the same training as them, you have no business claiming to know better than the consensus of the scientist or other experts.
         
         That said, I'm also wary of censorship and would prefer we not go down that slippery slope. But, then again, should you let people spread false information during a pandemic when people believing that info could get sick and die?

         replyreport
   2. 83

      GA Andersonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Nope. I frequently drop breadcrumbs along the way in my forum participation, but other than that, 'you ain't getting my bio' without working for it.
      
      GA ;-)

      replyreport
      1. 0

         PrettyPantherposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Is it one of those deals where "if I tell ya I'll have to kill ya"?
         
         I'm married to retired NSA so I get it. ;-)

         replyreport
2. 0

   PrettyPantherposted 3 years ago

   I am a 62-year-old mother of two autistic sons. I raised them alone from when they were pre-schoolers to teens. They are adults now on disability and still residing with me and my husband of ten years.
   
   My career has ranged from secretary to transportation planner to nonprofit program manager to executive director of our local chamber of commerce. I worked from the age of 16 to just recently, when vision loss no longer allowed me to properly do my job. I am now legally blind but not receiving disability.
   
   The last ten years of my working life, I assisted small businesses through training and consulting, so you can imagine how I chuckle when I am accused of being a socialist or ant-business.
   
   I served for five years on our local planning commission where I was considered a strong advocate for local businesses. I once ran for Mayor in a contentious local election and lost by 47 votes to a man who was fined by the state for campaign finance violations. After serving for two months, he was caught in a pedophile sting and was convicted of a felony. This was in 2016 when Trump was elected. There was something in the air that year....
   
   I volunteered for Elizabeth Waren, then for Joe Biden. I believe in putting in time and effort, not just arguing on debate boatds, although I do get my kicks doing that. ;-)

   replyreport
   1. 90

      IslandBitesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Kudos to you! You really are a strong woman.

      replyreport
      1. 0

         PrettyPantherposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Why, thank you. I don't always think so, and I have an awesome husband who supports me in whatever nonsense I get myself into. ;-)

         replyreport
3. 80

   Credence2posted 3 years ago

   So, let's get acquainted.
   
   Much of my background is found on my profile page.
   
   At almost 66, I am more crotchety than ever. I always had problems with old people always getting in the way when I was younger,  well guess what...
   
   While my health is flawless, but my Achilles heel is my significant other who has had spinal meningitis which is the source of endless maladies and general poor health.
   
   I have been basically sitting on my rump since retirement 10 years ago. I am more than qualified to be a teacher in regards to certain subjects, but my wife's fragile health which includes Parkinson's lack of sure footedness, has restricted my movements. We reside in a semi rural area within an east central Florida community.
   
   Yes, I am a California style progressive, further left than most. I have nothing but time to discuss my points of view. I got on with Elizabeth Warren's campaign at its inception. But, I managed to live with Joe Biden.
   
   Thanks for the invitation, Panther

   replyreport
   1. 0

      PrettyPantherposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      My husband grew up in Bradenton and we visited Florida last year, a first for me. I loved visiting the Everglades, and the Key West  vibe was addicting. I want to go back when we can stay longer.
      
      Your comment about living in a semi-rural area reminds me that I forgot to mention I am a progressive living in a small town in a rural county in Oregon, surrounded by pickup trucks adorned with Trump flags, American flags and the occasional confederate flag. My county went almost 70% for Trump. Most people think of Portland when they think of Oregon, but aside from Portland, Salem, and Eugene the rest of Oregon is Trump country. They feel perpetually victimized by the liberals from the cities who run the satet (in their view) to the point where there is a movement to become part of Idaho.

      replyreport
      1. 80

         Credence2posted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, Panther, these pickup trucks and garish flags have been all over the place. Despite the rosy prediction of Trump flipping Florida, I knew better, Trump had a cache of secret supporters all along.
         
         If the conservatives in Oregon don't like politics in Oregon, maybe they should just move to Idaho.
         
         We had the same problem in Colorado, the prairie and cowboy counties wanted to create a separate state, called East Colorado, in protest to the Democrat leaning Denver Area and the Front Range. But, that was deep sixed, fast enough.

         replyreport
      2. 95

         wildernessposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Come on!  We'd welcome anyone from Oregon (and Washington, for that matter)...living East of the Cascade mountains.  Most of those within 100 miles of the Pacific should probably stay home. 
         
         Comical, though - you're a liberal living in a red county: I'm a conservative living in a county that was balanced in the election and will likely vote blue in 4 years.  All because of the single metropolitan area in the state, where I live.

         replyreport
         1. 0

            PrettyPantherposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            Do you see blue Biden flags on pickup trucks revving through your neighborhood? :-)

            replyreport
            1. 95

               wildernessposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               No.  But then I don't get out much anymore - a trip to the grocery store a couple of times each month is about it.
               
               But I do see Biden signs in the area - something that 20 years ago would have been very rare.  As the community grows into a real, honest-to-god city it is moving to the left. 
               
               Just as nearly all cities in the country do, and it makes me wonder why.  We have an influx from California and other blue areas - is that it?  Is it the growing divide between the "have's and have not's", the growing number of poor?  Is it an increasing willingness to live off of the labor of others?  What is it about cramming too many people into too small a space (my personal analysis and opinion of what I like - others glory at a mass of people) that produces a willingness to depend on a government for more and more of what they need?
               
               *edit*  I just picked up on your "Biden flags on pickup trucks" bit - pickups are so common here it never made me blink.  It is a comical reference!)

               replyreport
               1. 0

                  PrettyPantherposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  My honest answer is that exposure to other cultures, other lifestyles, people of varied backgrounds from  all walks of life, ideas you'd never come across otherwise, different music, all of that....living in a city, you can't help but see that your views, your experience, is not the only experience in America, and you develop empathy and understanding for the struggles others have that you don't. You recognize that what harms or holds back  others ultimately harms and holds back everyone .

                  replyreport
                  1. 95

                     wildernessposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                     I suspect that you are right - that exposure results in empathy.
                     
                     My own problem is that that empathy results in treating the symptom with bandaids covering it up rather than fixing the problem in the first place.  This, too, may be because the rural people are used to fixing things rather than applying a bandaid whereas the city folk just want it out of sight so their feelings aren't hurt by what they see.

                     replyreport
                     1. 0

                        PrettyPantherposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                        Okay, wilderness, let's just get the rural people together and let them come up with a fix for, say, homelessness.
                        
                        I'll await their wisdom.
                        
                        I live with rural people and I have serious doubts about their ability, as a group, to solve such complex problems but I'm willing to give it a go. You seem so confident.

                        replyreport
                        1. 90

                           IslandBitesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                           homelessness
                           
                           This reminds me something my little one told me the other day.
                           
                           But first, since no one else is sharing...
                           
                           I'm a married 42 y/o mom of two boys, 6 and 7, that we adopted 5 months ago. They've been living with us for a year and a half now. Because of the pandemic I finally decided to homeschool them so Im going crazy. I decided to be a stay at home mom, even though I have a MA in History.
                           I'm Puerto Rican, living in Puerto Rico. Im an american citizen but Im not an american. I dont understand Americans obsession with labels, but I guess Im considered a liberal. What else?
                           
                           So, about homelessness...
                           
                           My little one out of the blue told me: "Mom, Im thinking that we should get poor people (he meant homeless) and first, use sanitizer (the idea of "give them a bath" of a 6 y/o living a pandemic) and take them home. Show them the fridge and stove and they're going to be so happy because they'll have food. And they should live here forever. And they'll be so happy because they'll be no longer alone.
                           
                           I was surprised and proud. And also sad.

                           replyreport
                           1. 0

                              PrettyPantherposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                              Aw, what a sweet boy. I have had my eyes opened about so many aspects of homelessness over the past couple of years through my friendship with a  man who is an advocate for the homeless in our rural county. I couldn't begin to know the answers but I admire attempts to help the homeless that don't involve simply shooing them away.

                              replyreport
         2. 80

            Credence2posted 3 years agoin reply to this

            I wouldn't worry Wilderness, Idaho will remain as red as crimson. Salt Lake City, nor Oklahoma City has changed the fundamentally Red nature of either the states of Utah or Oklahoma.
            
            I think that it would make for an interesting study as to what turns red states blue, it does seem to be associated with population and the rise of urban and suburban areas. It sure has Texas Republicans worried.

            replyreport
            1. 95

               wildernessposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Of course it has to do with the rise of urban areas - there is hardly an urban area that is not blue and hardly a rural area that is not red.  One has only to look at a map with counties colored in to see that.
               
               The question is why urban dwellers desire the nanny state and rural areas fight it so hard.

               replyreport
               1. 80

                  Credence2posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  Here is your answer, it is not about "nanny", it's about interdependence. This  "Marlboro Country" world conservatives fawn about is fast disappearing for more and more people out of sheer economic necessity.
                  
                  
                  Living in Lakewood  Colorado, I was told how many days a week I could water my lawn or how often I could burn wood in my fireplace. I was told that I needed an air emissions test to register my car.
                  
                  But, if those regulations were not in place, city water resources would be reduced to dangerous levels. The Denver area would again be subject to unacceptable and dangerous levels of air pollution. I lived in LA area back in the seventies and believe me that was as bad as it could get.
                  
                  So unlike the Marlboro Man, urban dwellers do not have wide open spaces and limitless prerogatives as far as the eye could see.
                  
                  The reality is that the reality is different for urban dwellers relative to country folks. I prefer country living but I am a progressive knowing that my expectations and preferences are not possible for everybody and having lived in many metropolises, that your prerogatives may well end at your next door neighbor's nose.

                  replyreport
                  1. 95

                     wildernessposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                     Sounds like you're trying to change the reality by changing the term from "nanny" to "interdependent".  Either way, govt. will tell you how to live your life, which rural Americans detest and urban ones seem to love.
                     
                     But you DO have a point; the more people there are - the higher the density of people - the more rules are necessary to control them.  And perhaps that is the "why" that urbanites desire that nanny state.  Because they give up their responsibility for self for the ability to control others.
                     
                     Or maybe it's because they are unable to formulate their own "right and wrong" - they must depend on a hidden government committee of their betters to do it for them.  The problem, of course, happens when they demand that rural dwellers also follow the rules that cities require; that rural people also give up their rights to determine their own way of life.

                     replyreport
                     1. 80

                        Credence2posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                        Urbanites do desire the nanny state, what planet are you on. How many jobs are in these rural communities that you extoll so much? You want to disperse the high density of people and the need for the existence of cities? Maybe, you best stay in Idaho, because the world changing all around you. Arizona and Georgia are just the beginning, Texas is next.
                        
                        Your last paragraph is utter nonsense, Wilderness. Your "right and wrong" is not my "right or wrong", what do you think laws are for, but to define that clearly for everyone? Conservative continue to irritate me as they think their moral compass is the universal one, quite the contrary.
                        
                        Majority rules, just like Panther's situation with Rightwingers in Oregon not liking the leftward shift of state politics. If they don't like it the can always move to Idaho and buy themselves a little more time before they, too, will be enveloped by progress.

                        replyreport
                        1. 95

                           wildernessposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                           Are you confusing the desire for a nanny state with the desire for concrete jungles?  Because the two are not the same even though there is a pretty obvious correlation between them (cities produce the nanny state).
                           
                           I know - the majority rules, and without regard for the needs or desires for the minority.  That may be your outlook on life, but it isn't mine and it wasn't that of those that wrote the basis for law in this country (the constitution).

                           replyreport
                           1. 80

                              Credence2posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                              Now , what is this all about?
                              
                              Cities do not produce the nanny state, that is a despicable and unconscionable bias. Cities have been around for centuries, where have you been? Cities are a part of the modern world, are you a part of the modern world? How can you continue to lament about concepts and ideas that simply no longer exist?
                              
                              When we are talking about Cowboys and sod busters, then the concerns of  minorities are important but when we talk about racial or ethnic minorities, then you are not so gracious.
                              
                              What are we supposed to do for this "minority" that you worship so much? Give them greater say regarding national choices over the majority of people? Not likely.

                              replyreport