Maybe a controversial take on Lemmy to defend religious people but here goes. I don’t think it’s fair to place the blame on these people. I think for the most part, they are doing the best they can with the skills and capacity they have. None of these people, who you are denigrating by comparing them to literal animals, are born terrible people.
So ask yourself, who is to blame. Is it the fearful, working class person to the left of you in the store? Is it your neighbor who is fearful of transgender people because they don’t understand them? Or perhaps the family down the road struggling to make ends meet and don’t have the capacity understand the real cause of their struggle.
Or is it the media culture that constantly instills fear and hate into them. And the church that no longer preaches godly values, but is instead filled with grifters and charlatans. The rednecks are not the cause of the US turmoil, they are not your enemy. What is the difference between a redneck and someone with a successful career? Opportunity. Care. Support. Anyone can be successful with support.
It is the capital class that seeks to sow fear, hatred, and division because thats the only way they can retain power. A united working class is an existential threat to their existence. The “dumb rednecks” are vulnerable and hurting and they have been exploited. Place your hate where it is deserved, the ultra wealthy, who for decades have been allowed outsized influence to manipulate the people of the US.
I’m sorry, through some unfortunate events, I currently live in redneck land. There are some decent people here but they are a minority and usually people who are young/born there or too poor to escape (me).
The vast majority of people here choose to live in the middle of nowhere however and it shows. They’re paranoid, stupid, delusional, prejudiced, etc. Every time I’ve tried friendly conversations with them at various watering holes, they end up disliking me for bullshit prejudicial reasons. They literally tell me that I’m showing off by using big words or say I’m a weakling faggot or whatever else.
I commute into a small city for work for a pretty humdrum low paying office job and the people here are a million fucking times nicer and smarter and just as “working class” as the rural chuds.
I’m not disagreeing with your experience or trying to defend their behavior.
I’m providing reasons for how they ended up with such toxic attitudes and beliefs. I don’t think they woke up one morning and said fuck that guy, for example.
Look, I don’t believe in free will. I don’t think wanting others to suffer for being “bad” is a rational mentality. (I agree with Robert Sapolsky) But I’m also not a rational being, I’m human and my emotions tell me “Fuck these assholes” and I’m tired of trying to be above it all. Especially, after this recent election. And at this point I can’t help but be indifferent to their suffering at best.
I’m just going to avoid them like the plague. I owe them nothing and I can’t waste my life trying to bring horses to water when I know they wont drink. Or swimming up a political waterfall by trying to organize them.
Ok captain fantasy land. “Ooooh the poor rednecks, won’t someone think of the rednecks” shuuuuuut the fuck up. They know exactly what they are doing or have you forgot that they tried to overthrow our capital, are racist, terrible parents, occasional child molesters, and seek to ACTIVELY harm you if you are on the opposite team. Spare me that bullshit, I’ve lived around them my entire fucking life, I know EXACTLY who they are.
you’re right, even if your delivery rubbed people the wrong way.
i was raised by them, so to that guy’s logic i should be just like them. i, however, have a painful level of empathy and the need to know the truth. it only took a couple years in my early 20s to deconstruct my entire upbringing (in a literal cult, isolated and homeschooled, mind you)… in today’s world, there is ABSOLUTELY no excuse to be this stupid and bigoted.
being raised among them myself, i too know exactly who these people are. they relish in their ignorance and make it a point of pride to never back down from their beliefs, no matter how logical you point out the issues.
FUCK them. they made my life hell and now i feel like I’m losing my autonomy all over again to these creeps.
Maybe a controversial take on Lemmy to defend religious people but here goes. I don’t think it’s fair to place the blame on these people. I think for the most part, they are doing the best they can with the skills and capacity they have. None of these people, who you are denigrating by comparing them to literal animals, are born terrible people.
So ask yourself, who is to blame. Is it the fearful, working class person to the left of you in the store? Is it your neighbor who is fearful of transgender people because they don’t understand them? Or perhaps the family down the road struggling to make ends meet and don’t have the capacity understand the real cause of their struggle.
Or is it the media culture that constantly instills fear and hate into them. And the church that no longer preaches godly values, but is instead filled with grifters and charlatans. The rednecks are not the cause of the US turmoil, they are not your enemy. What is the difference between a redneck and someone with a successful career? Opportunity. Care. Support. Anyone can be successful with support.
It is the capital class that seeks to sow fear, hatred, and division because thats the only way they can retain power. A united working class is an existential threat to their existence. The “dumb rednecks” are vulnerable and hurting and they have been exploited. Place your hate where it is deserved, the ultra wealthy, who for decades have been allowed outsized influence to manipulate the people of the US.
I’m sorry, through some unfortunate events, I currently live in redneck land. There are some decent people here but they are a minority and usually people who are young/born there or too poor to escape (me).
The vast majority of people here choose to live in the middle of nowhere however and it shows. They’re paranoid, stupid, delusional, prejudiced, etc. Every time I’ve tried friendly conversations with them at various watering holes, they end up disliking me for bullshit prejudicial reasons. They literally tell me that I’m showing off by using big words or say I’m a weakling faggot or whatever else.
I commute into a small city for work for a pretty humdrum low paying office job and the people here are a million fucking times nicer and smarter and just as “working class” as the rural chuds.
I’m not disagreeing with your experience or trying to defend their behavior.
I’m providing reasons for how they ended up with such toxic attitudes and beliefs. I don’t think they woke up one morning and said fuck that guy, for example.
Look, I don’t believe in free will. I don’t think wanting others to suffer for being “bad” is a rational mentality. (I agree with Robert Sapolsky) But I’m also not a rational being, I’m human and my emotions tell me “Fuck these assholes” and I’m tired of trying to be above it all. Especially, after this recent election. And at this point I can’t help but be indifferent to their suffering at best.
I’m just going to avoid them like the plague. I owe them nothing and I can’t waste my life trying to bring horses to water when I know they wont drink. Or swimming up a political waterfall by trying to organize them.
You don’t believe in free will? Then how are you choosing to avoid them like the plague? Seems contradictory.
Its not. What is your will “free” from?
Ok captain fantasy land. “Ooooh the poor rednecks, won’t someone think of the rednecks” shuuuuuut the fuck up. They know exactly what they are doing or have you forgot that they tried to overthrow our capital, are racist, terrible parents, occasional child molesters, and seek to ACTIVELY harm you if you are on the opposite team. Spare me that bullshit, I’ve lived around them my entire fucking life, I know EXACTLY who they are.
you’re right, even if your delivery rubbed people the wrong way.
i was raised by them, so to that guy’s logic i should be just like them. i, however, have a painful level of empathy and the need to know the truth. it only took a couple years in my early 20s to deconstruct my entire upbringing (in a literal cult, isolated and homeschooled, mind you)… in today’s world, there is ABSOLUTELY no excuse to be this stupid and bigoted.
being raised among them myself, i too know exactly who these people are. they relish in their ignorance and make it a point of pride to never back down from their beliefs, no matter how logical you point out the issues.
FUCK them. they made my life hell and now i feel like I’m losing my autonomy all over again to these creeps.