Shocked & Disgusted

[agzg]

My thoughts on the whole facebook thing:

One of my friends (a McCain supporter), posted a note containing her thoughts on the election, her disappointment in her candidate not winning, and her hopefulness that most Americans will unite in support of Obama, at least until he makes his first big mistake. She then posted the transcript from McCain's concession speech (which, I think I mentioned this about 100 times before but I really thought it was a great speech).

The comments to the note were fairly pessimistic. Saying that Obama's election has already made the economy tank more, etc. I saw a couple of things, however.

1. Hopefulness among McCain supporters that Obama's election will cause the GOP to rally, making them a better working campaigning machine.

2. Willingness to see that, regardless of their disappointment in the results of the election, that change will be coming. I think, however, that had McCain won, there would have been change as well. Just maybe a different kind of change, not necessarily for the worse, but different.

3. Is it the general feeling between parties that the people that voted for the opposite candidate are uneducated? I keep seeing "all those uneducated people that voted for Obama" or "all those uneducated people that voted for McCain." I don't consider myself uneducated, nor do I consider most of my friends that voted for McCain uneducated, but I'll have to say I'm friends with a bunch of highly educated people, where their collective hundreds of college degrees would make a suitable step stool for washing my second floor windows from the outside.

I suppose that many of those whose votes solely hinged on race, or gender, or party could be considered uneducated. But what, truly, is uneducated? The beauty of American politics as it stands today is that all citizens, over 18, who have taken the necessary steps toward voting on election day, are able to cast their ballots, regardless of their reasons for voting for particular candidates.

It concerns me that many of my friends on both sides of the aisle seem to have decided that, because they are "educated," take an interest in the issues, have researched their candidates (which, I'm not even sure that most of my "educated" friends did), have debated their positions, etc., then it should be THEIR voice heard over the "unwashed masses." However, since we've gone to a winner-take-all system with electoral ballots, every person's voice is equal to every other person who chooses to vote within their state. I have to wonder if many of my friends, however educated they may be, really understand this system.

I've digressed, and I have no idea how to fix that, so there ya go.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by alphagamzetagam

Is it the general feeling between parties that the people that voted for the opposite candidate are uneducated? I keep seeing "all those uneducated people that voted for Obama" or "all those uneducated people that voted for McCain."

I think, unfortunately, that it has become all too common among hyper-partisans in politics and elsewhere to make the assumption that people who disagree with them obviously do not understand how things really are. "Because if you really understood, you would obviously agree with me."

Not a helpful, or truthful, perspective at all. Just the opposite, actually.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

I think, unfortunately, that it has become all too common among hyper-partisans in politics and elsewhere to make the assumption that people who disagree with them obviously do not understand how things really are. "Because if you really understood, you would obviously agree with me."

Not a helpful, or truthful, perspective at all. Just the opposite, actually.

Exactly - to put it bluntly, calling the other side stupid is a very easy way to get in a criticism, without doing any actual thinking about the issues.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

Exactly - to put it bluntly, calling the other side stupid is a very easy way to get in a criticism, without doing any actual thinking about the issues.

In my experience, when this kind of charge comes from the right the other side is often "stupid." When it comes from the left, the other side is often "unenlightened."

Personally, I always thought that a hallmark of being smart and enlightened is the awareness that one can be wrong.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

In my experience, when this kind of charge comes from the right the other side is often "stupid." When it comes from the left, the other side is often "unenlightened."

Personally, I always thought that a hallmark of being smart and enlightened is the awareness that one can be wrong.

Yeah, but I think we all kid ourselves that the things we might be wrong about are complex and nuanced and require great insight even to grasp the issue, but people who actually vote differently than we do clearly base their votes on the most simplistic, self-interested, or bigoted reasons.