@blogdiva

The problem with the #left is so many judgments out there are absolute

But the only way to get #progress in this world is to be relative:

Is someone moving in a good direction, regardless of where they are starting from?

Then you applaud that

That is true #morality

Absolutism is just ego masturbation. It doesn't change the world

So I mourn the passing of #PopeFrancis

I recognize the good he did in the confines he operated in, on issues dear to the left

And so should you

@todymotmot @FranceskaMann @profdc9 @zakalwe @wendinoakland @GutterPoetry

the essential #psychological failure of #toxicIdealism is as follows:

if one can justify a position inside the ivory tower mind palace of one's self-regard, then that is "morality"

no, it's #ego masturbation

true #morality is action, even if it is messy

but they value the purity of themselves, over actually mattering to the world

the real world is too messy, they can't be bothered with messiness

ego over #reality

a few notes on a Linda Rising's talk

"Realize up front that this is hard".

Cognitive dissonance: contradictory "evidence" causes severe cognitive discomfort.

* We are not rational decision-makers
* but we are good at explaining after-the-fact why we made a decision – a pattern called rationalization.

Two thirds of people will not consider an idea until "somebody they know pretty well, is doing it, is happy with it, talks about it […] so maybe i might think about it".
To convince,
* you must address: "What's in it for me?" – requires empathy;
* you can use the values of your opponent. (Loyalty or fairness?)

A pattern of personal touch: walk a mile in the other's shoes
Another pattern: "Give it a try"
Another pattern: listen
Another pattern: ask for something personal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrCD1wmK9oM via @matthew

"I have never seen an anti-feminist backlash quite like the one we are living through. The embrace of misogyny is thorough and unapologetic. It transcends just about every aspect of this administration, from the president down through his followers.

~ Jill Filipovic

#Musk #Trump #MAGA #destruction #chaos #fascism #suicide #empathy #morality #religion #WhiteChristianNationalism #misogyny #women
/8

https://jill.substack.com/p/boys-will-be-boys-but-women-are-too

'“To me, this disparagement marks a step in the destruction of our multicultural democracy, and provides a path from the verbal dehumanization of others to ope' discrimination and maltreatment.” ...

We are witnessing the construction of the ideological architecture to excuse violence and suffering on a mass scale."

#Musk #Trump #MAGA #destruction #chaos #fascism #suicide #empathy #morality #religion #WhiteChristianNationalism
/7

“'The disparagement of empathy is the flip side, I believe, of a deliberate effort to set up a permission structure to dehumanize others, and to narrow the definition of who should be included in a democratic state, or in a Christian community,' she said."

#Musk #Trump #MAGA #destruction #chaos #fascism #suicide #empathy #morality #religion #WhiteChristianNationalism
/6

@TonyStark

"...We’re not getting rid of MAGA until we learn we’re smart enough to unite not divide..."

This is to *all* of us "...smart enough..." means:
* #MAGA needs to smarten up about #reality, #technology #vaccines #corruption #ultrawealthy #morality & so on
* #liberals need to understand how to #communicate with but not #alienate the MAGA tribe (yeah, *HUGE* challenge for me personally with my father & others)
* #uncommitted need to understand that, with 2 parties, you have to choose

Foof!

Hey, at least now I know all the ways I went wrong in life.