Skinypupy wrote: ↑Thu Jan 17, 2019 11:10 amThe general attitude from my conservative family members seems to be, "It hasn't affected
me personally (yet), therefore the government shutdown is no big deal." Which tracks 100% with conservatives general lack of empathy towards anyone or anything that isn't them.
Which is how I've personally viewed any Republican for decades, but the theme has moved from something I considered an undertone to being the front line. Maybe some were in it for minimal government. Maybe some were in it to be frugal with spending. Every Republican I've ever known (which is few; I generally don't go out of my way to uncover people's political leaning) has always been willing to push someone else over to grab what they could. As in, it's no surprise when I get cut off on the road by a pickup truck, and it's got a Trump sticker on the back.
What blows my mind is how that attitude ties in with so many people who consider themselves good, upstanding religious people. Who then happen to spread hate around on anything they don't understand or disagree with. I sometimes think, as an atheist, my bowel movements have a stronger moral compass than some god-fearing people do.
*Edit: And for the Republicans on this forum, I haven't formed enough of a history with the R&P forum to feel much of one way or another about how you fall in the spectrum for me personally. I pretty much avoided this place until Trump took office, and when I got here it seemed like everyone except MSDuncan, RIP, and EM2 were essentially unified in either confusion or disgust, and it's been increasing since then.
I would love for it to be anything other than an echo chamber, but the distance between what I see as reality and what the GOP supporters see as reality is so vast, it's like trying to get the 12:00 noon and 12:00 midnight to come together.