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View Full Version : Ignorance and Open-mindedness



Dooga Aetrus Blackrazor
13th January 2006, 23:27
As I have become increasingly more radical, I find myself disagreeing with my friends on political issues more. For instance, they disagree with revolutionary means as getting things done. As I first posted here, I was hestitant towards the idea of a revolution; however, I now see it as a viable method of achieving communism, or, at the very least, political protest must be done to get a legitimate election system in Canada.

Particularly, one of my friends and I had a disagreement on the upcoming election in Canada. He said, until I convinced him otherwise (or he pretended to agree to avoid argument), that the conservative party is better than the NDP. He said the NDP's socialist economic policies in the past failed, and they won't work. I countered his argument explaining that people used to say "blacks have always been slaves so they will never be free".

After seeing Steven Harper in person, he has became less opposed to conservative ideas, although he disagrees with them. He calls this being open minded, but I disagree. I say there is a difference between being open minded and being illogical. I explained that some people are open minded; however, it doesn't take them long to discover whether a belief set is illogical. For instance, I didn't just say, oh "conservatism sucks", but I looked it over critically and came to that conclusion. Why? Because it was an easy one to make.

Overall, where do we draw the line? I am finding it particularly frustration, as of lately, to debate people politically. They are so ingrained with capitalist propaganda and lack the ability to think quickly. It's getting annoying.

Where do we draw the line between respecting alternative ideologies and dismissing something as garbage?

Furthermore, I would like to convince my friend not to vote liberal in the next election. He believes voting strategically at least makes his vote count. After all, the liberal party is better than the conservative party (though not by a lot). Although I was recently contemplating strategic voting, I have changed my mind, but I still can't convince others to rebel against our corrupt electoral system.

I realize this is more of a rant, but I am sure some of the brilliant leftists here will have some sort of response.

anomaly
13th January 2006, 23:43
Why even bother showing 'respect' to alternative ideologies. Recently I often find myself openly laughing at my friends when we debate politically. You see, most of the leftists on here lean to the intellectual side of things. We have to understand that most people do not lean to the intellectual side, they find it boring or pointless. And since we often read more, we often are a bit brighter than most (students, I mean), and people loathe debating with someone who is more knowledgable than them. That is why it seems we often have trouble debating with peers.

But, anyway, back to my point. There is absolutely no point in showing any respect toward alternative ideologies. Those who have such ideologies show no respect toward ours. So why shouldn't we return the favor?

Floyce White
14th January 2006, 00:09
Just as there is a difference between family and friends, there is a difference between friends and comrades. Your friends will continue to have knowledge based on their experiences and backgrounds, and you will find their advice and insight quite useful in your political life. But most of your political discussions are going to be with comrades and other activists, so look to political activists for political discussion.