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In reply to the discussion: "What shall we do now?" (re. the UCSB shootings) [View all]Laelth
(32,017 posts)68. It is not our responsibility to fix all the "broken" people of the world.
The following post is cross-posted from this thread in which two people who acknowledge that men are "fearful" argue, in turn, that it's not our responsibility to do anything about these fears. I cross-posted my response here in order to keep my thoughts on this subject on the same page.
I agree that it is not our responsibility to fix all the "broken" people of the world.
However, putting aside my dislike of the word "broken," and assuming that we're talking about "fearful" men, it may still be in our best interests to address the fears of these men, even if it's not our responsibility. That, in essence, is the argument I make here.
The idea I am exploring is this:
If I am right, and these "fears" we are discussing are part of a culture-wide backlash, then shouldn't we address this, even if it's not our responsibility to do so? That's the strategy I am pondering, in any event. I want to find a way to get people to stop voting against their best interests, and the "fears" we are discussing, according to the theory I am toying with, are the primary cause of the counter-productive voting pattern we see among working class men (and the women who love them) who vote for the o-so-manly Republican Party.
Is it not in our best interests to try to change this voting pattern?
-Laelth
I agree that it is not our responsibility to fix all the "broken" people of the world.
However, putting aside my dislike of the word "broken," and assuming that we're talking about "fearful" men, it may still be in our best interests to address the fears of these men, even if it's not our responsibility. That, in essence, is the argument I make here.
The idea I am exploring is this:
I see this whole mess as a gender issue--as a backlash against the enormous gains in power that women have made over the past century. I see our obsession with guns as a lame and futile attempt to re-assert some kind of "masculine" power. I see the success of right-wing parties in Europe as a product of the same backlash. In fact, I see the political success of the modern Republican Party as a result of the same, underlying issue.
If I am right, and these "fears" we are discussing are part of a culture-wide backlash, then shouldn't we address this, even if it's not our responsibility to do so? That's the strategy I am pondering, in any event. I want to find a way to get people to stop voting against their best interests, and the "fears" we are discussing, according to the theory I am toying with, are the primary cause of the counter-productive voting pattern we see among working class men (and the women who love them) who vote for the o-so-manly Republican Party.
Is it not in our best interests to try to change this voting pattern?
-Laelth
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You are trying to conflate war and the character's personal problems
muriel_volestrangler
May 2014
#34
If you taught rhetoric than I ask you to step back and look for a larger, overarching theme
KittyWampus
May 2014
#2
So the invention of bigger and better guns and war machines had nothing to do with it?
davidn3600
May 2014
#11
we have often talked about the backlash resulting from so much success of women over a small
seabeyond
May 2014
#15
We fight to amend the Second Amendment. The existence of guns prevents the very conversations
ancianita
May 2014
#45
that has nothing to do with love and desire. that has nothing to do with being fearful
seabeyond
May 2014
#56