Has a conversation with someone who holds opposing political views ever caused you to change your own beliefs?
07.06.2025 09:57
A while back, something unusual happened in the conservative state of Montana…Sixteen young people sued to make the state do more for climate change They said that climate change has caused asthma, eliminated ski resort jobs, destroyed wildlife and made hunting difficult, and - in one case – caused a family to lose its ranch.
Democratic leaders like Clinton, Obama, and Biden are friends of our capitalist system and financial discipline. Clinton was the last president to balance our budget and reduce the debt. Obama worked closely with business leaders and bankers to prevent the Great Recession of 2008 from becoming a depression and ruining all our lives. Biden represented the most business-oriented state in the union for decades – Delaware. They are not socialists but they do want to regulate capitalism so small businesses, entrepreneurs, and inventors can have opportunities and so that corporate power does not dominate government. We already have a social safety net to meet people’s needs: Social Security, Medicare, and free public schools. The social safety net could be expanded to include universal healthcare, subsidized child and elder care for working families, subsidized higher education, and technical training for young people. Canada and the wealthy capitalistic countries of Western Europe and Asia have this.
Republicans are making climate change a political issue – that it isn’t real, that it is nothing to worry about, that it isn’t man-made, that it is too expensive to do anything about, or it's merely the bleating of “woke” liberals and other sheep. Well, it is real and it is a result of our use of fossil fuels and other chemicals in almost everything from plastics to ships.
No Man's Sky Gets A Massive Switch 2 Upgrade And It's All Free - Kotaku
> Kindness for the less fortunate while protecting our borders and avoiding senseless cruelty — 3,000 verses in the Bible call for the care of the stranger, the marginalized, the oppressed, and the poor. Once, all of us were all immigrants, escaping poverty and persecution. Are these people fleeing poverty, persecution from repressive socialist countries, or gang violence so different? Of course, we cannot have people flooding into our country and overwhelming schools, hospitals, and public services. But, we need to protect our borders in a humane way, and farmers and small businesses need low-skilled workers (while many of these jobs aren’t taken by Americans). There are horror stories coming from the border: a 4-year-old girl fainting from heat exhaustion and a woman miscarrying after crossing razor wire — a teenager breaking his leg in the middle of the Rio Grande and people drowning because of obstacles. President Biden has imposed high levels of proof for immigrants claiming asylum from persecution and violence. Since then there have been thousands fewer illegal immigrants. It is still high but it at least shows progress – and without spitting up families and putting kids in cages as the Trump administration did.
> Belief in democracy — Republicans seem to believe that any election will have two results: The Republican wins…or…the Democrat steals the election. … In 2021, the were elections for governor in New Jersey and Virginia. The winners won by about the same margins. The Virginia Democrat conceded defeat the next morning and wished his victorious Republican rival well. The New Jersey Republican loser, though, urged people to come forward with evidence of fraud, and the National Republican Party sent 20 lawyers to New Jersey to hunt for fraud. They planned to do the same thing in Virginia if the Republicans had lost. … In many states, Republicans have identified the weak spots in our election system and are trying to exploit them for their gain. …The Party is promoting the “independent state legislature doctrine”, which dictates that a state legislature has the sole power to elect state electors who will vote in national and state elections the way the legislature wants - regardless of the state popular vote … MAGA acolytes have tried to appoint Secretaries of State (who are in charge of certifying votes in each state) who are willing to deny the validity of votes if they are not to the Party’s liking. In the last election in 15 states, if these officials did not do what the Party wanted, they got death threats or were stripped of their authority. … The GA state board (under the control of the Republican legislature) may now overrule voting tallies anywhere in Georgia. Republicans there have been accused of restricting absentee ballots and ballot drop boxes and forbidding giving water to voters in line. These rules are aimed at poor, minority, and elderly voters who find it difficult to take off from work or travel.
> Belief in small government and individual liberties — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has used his authority to punish companies like Disney for its criticism of his “Don’t Say Gay” law. A Fox News commentator warned Apple and Disney they would lose their trademark and copyright protections and would face anti-trust suits to break them up because of their support for liberal positions. This is the style of the Soviet Union, not American small-government conservatism. … GOP Senators have questioned whether certain Supreme Court cases are valid: the cases that make it legal for married people to buy contraceptives or for people to marry someone of another race. The GOP is questioning our right to privacy and the right to have ANY right that is not expressly listed in the Constitution - or that that the GOP does not approve of.
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One side believes progressives run pedophile rings in pizza joints and the other believes in expanded childcare and healthcare. … One side believes in liberal space lasers while the other side believes in lower-cost prescription drugs. One side believes Tom Hanks drinks the blood of children while the other side believes in addressing climate change. One side thinks Hugo Chávez helped steal an election despite being dead for ten years while the other side believes in the wealthy paying their fair share of taxes. One side believes 9/11, the moon landing, and the Sandy Hook school shooting were faked while the other believes in making education affordable. Huh???
Longer and more severe droughts and long spells of hot weather have caused huge wildfires. One of the worst was in June – smoke from 400 Canadian fires enveloped the skies over most of the Northeast. Schools and outdoor sports events were canceled. These conditions can cause asthma, damage the lungs, and increase the risk of brain decline and heart attacks. One couple and their 12-month-old baby died two miles from safety because of 100-degree heat. Phoenix had had 19 days with temperatures over 110 degrees and its emergency rooms were overwhelmed by heat stroke victims. When temperatures reach 103 degrees, the body tries to cool off by sending blood to the skin and depriving the brain of oxygen…At 107 degrees, things really start to break down…
Informed people say that the economy will suffer losses of 14.4 trillion dollars over the next few years as a result of climate change. In 1980, three natural disasters ( a drought, a flood, and a hurricane) cost 1 billion dollars each in damages in 2023 dollars. Over the last 40 years, there have been an average of 8 disasters that each cost a billion dollars in damages. Last year, there were 18 natural disasters that caused 1 billion dollars in damage. One hurricane alone caused 114 billion. It will be hard to have a good economy when people are trapped in their houses and everything on the coasts is underwater.
He said he loves me, but why is it difficult for him to leave his wife?
> Respect for others’ views, compromise, and nonviolence — 84 percent of Americans are afraid of retaliation or harsh criticism for expressing their opinions, and more than half have actually not said or written something because of fear. Once upon a time, we all felt that we were Americans first and could have friendly disagreements. Steve Bannon (media mogul and former aide to President Trump) thanked the rioters who responded to President Trump’s instructions to “fight like hell” and invade the Capitol on January 6, 2021…These rioters gave many of the policemen guarding the Capitol broken bones, concussions, chemical burns, and a taser-induced heart attack. That day, a congressman said he was afraid to certify the results of the 2020 election because he was worried about what rioters might to do his wife and children., One “peaceful” protester hurled a flagpole like a spear into a policeman’s face and another grabbed a face mask off another officer and bashed his head against a door. There was planning for this fight as well. Before the attack on the Capitol, GOP Representative Barry Loudermilk gave a tour of the Capitol and its grounds to a man who photographed tunnels, stairs, and security checkpoints. The next day, the same man recorded a video addressed to Democrats, “There’s no escape. We’re coming for you”. One man was arrested with a truck full of Molotov cocktails, 11 jars of homemade (always the best) napalm, and other weapons. Another man was turned into the FBI by his son and the dad told him that he was a traitor and “traitors get shot.” … Republicans produce a river of threats and anger against anyone in their path.
No. I listen with respect as we all should. However i list here several core issues in our country and why i believe Republicans are not addressing them in a way that will Make America Even Greater Than She Is Now.
> Financial discipline from our government and support for our capitalist economy. In the 1980s, the Republican Party tried the “trickle-down” philosophy: if the rich and corporations got richer then the working and middle classes would benefit because of rich people’s and corporations' investment and spending. This did not work. Americans fell behind in what they could afford in houses, car payments, tuition, etc.
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REFUSED__Republicans demanded that Obama do something about illegal immigration___Obama used his executive authority to enact some immigration reforms__Republicanswere outraged and called Obama a tyrant for doing exactly what they asked him to do.
In 2024, don’t vote for Perfect cuz you can’t. Vote Decent. Please.
Torrential rainstorms deluged Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Pennsylvania. Floods that are supposed to happen once every thousand years and temperatures that beat records every week are the new normal. These events are unnatural and are a result of how we humans have made the Earth hotter. Scientists (who are a conservative lot – their careers depend on it!) predicted this. But they are surprised at how quickly climate change has happened.
So why don’t we already have immigration reform? Here’s the story: In 2013 Democrats passed a bi-partisan immigration reform bill in the Senate ___House Republicans REFUSED to allow the bill to even be debated___Obama asked Republicans to propose THEIR OWN immigration bill__Republicans
> Belief in science and facts and rejection of silly conspiracy theories — Many deny the importance of masks and vaccines, the miracles of worldwide communication and medical breakthroughs, and the REAL threat of climate change. Why? To hold onto power? To pretend that they are somehow in the know? I really don’t know. I do know this has nothing to do with real conservatism. Or even common sense. Or even respect for people who may know more than you or me.