Pizza is not tea

[snousle]

Had a pizza party last night for local ranch residents. Fun and successful, except we had one guest who pinned me down for what seemed like half an hour on a remarkably uninformed anti-tax rant.

I really don't understand this phenomenon. He is just hitting retirement age and didn't seem to grok that I will be the one that's going to be paying for HIS benefits. Just try to quietly point out that federal tax revenue is at historically low levels, and that no matter what else you cut, taxes will have to be raised substantially to pay for the services promised to him - this does not compute.

He was really the most obnoxious guest we have ever had and will not be invited back. But I do wonder why this sort of thing agitates me so much. The political distinction that matters to me is not right versus left. I can respect the hard core conservatives so long as they are grounded in principles and evidence. But this incoherent shouting - which is equally prevalent across the political spectrum - really eats at me, and will not leave my head. Even the next day, its as if he's still right here in the room shouting about taxes. I wonder what I have to do to get this out of my life.

Comments

[barbarian-rat.livejournal.com]

Shouting = "I can't defend my position based on actual facts and a reasoned argument"

this incoherent shouting - which is equally prevalent across the political spectrum

I hear this a lot, and have not really see it to be true. The shouting appears to me to come mainly from the right, the left appears to try reasoned argument and falls on deaf ears.

Perhaps realizing that much of the county has lost it's mind, will help you get this out of your mind. You are a man who argues from an informed position. Will you ever be able to understand an argument based on fiction?

[snousle.livejournal.com]

The shouting appears to me to come mainly from the right, the left appears to try reasoned argument and falls on deaf ears.

Oh, I would have to put it at a 50-50 split. The right-wingnut stuff dominates the media, but in my daily life the majority of uneducated ranty drivel I suffer comes from the left. But that's more like a low-level drone, whereas the teabagger stuff is like being poked with a sharp stick.

[dorisduke.livejournal.com]

I suspect the reason you can not get it out of your head is even though you understand their ranting is based in fantasy and are unwilling to see reason when presented to them. Even knowing this it is hard for a man with smarts to grasp the unwillingness to even consider facts. You try to wrap your head around this but your reasoning fights against it.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have to agree with that. I have the good fortunate to have several very intelligent and articulate friends "on the right", so it helps put into relief how much shouty drivel there also is "on the left". Like you say, the real division is between people who reason from facts and adopt a position on the basis of that and people who believe things because they're true and you can't tell me I'm wrong LALALALALALANOTLISTENING.

Propaganda

[kevynjacobs.livejournal.com]

Welcome to my world. This is what I go through every time I talk with my mother, who is convinced that her taxes are higher under Obama, even though I can demonstrably show that her taxes are lower than they were under Bush.

There's a concerted propaganda campaign going on to convince the less rational among us that taxes are BAAAAD.

[barbarian-rat.livejournal.com]

Maybe I'm not paying enough attention to the lefty stuff. It donesn't seem to be to be as high as 50%, but then the shouting from right seems to drown out everything else.

That the left seems like a "low-level drone, whereas the teabagger stuff is like being poked with a sharp stick"... I can agree with that.

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

Here. Have some Ernie. Does that help?

[fogbear.livejournal.com]

Agreed. The liberal ranting is generally ill-informed mumbling. The tea party ranting is ill-informed shouting, with much more destructive consequences (imo).

[broduke2000.livejournal.com]

Channeling Michelle Bachmann:

If we would just make the USA into a Christian nation, God would lower taxes to zero for Millionaires and Hedge Fund Managers, everybody would be working, Homosexuals would all be converted, and the economy would just be rosy!"

[danthered.livejournal.com]

How 'bout the "STOP THE SPENDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" temper tantrums, do you have to put up with those, too?