We need to find the empathy to love each other in order to prevent civil war

[Rockapotomuss]

Throughout history there have been thousands of wars. It's hard to conceive of war taking place on North American soil, civil or otherwise, but it could happen. This is how it starts. The lines are drawn, people form groups, and people perceive other groups as threats to their own.

Identity politics has created a victim story for every group of people except straight able bodied white males, who happen to be the most powerful group in terms of wealth and status overall. Black lives matter, gender bathrooms, reparations, everyone has a victim story, except white guys. White males feel unloved. They feel unacknowledged, both for their successes and their failures. Rather than create their own victim story and feeling sad, instead white males turn to nationalism as a way to take everyone else's identity and victim stories away. White guys are saying, "You're not black, I don't see black, you're American." "I don't care if you're gay or straight, use the men's room." By replacing all identities with one identity, white males believe they are bringing everyone together, unifying people, ending racism and other prejudices.

In response, other people who perceive to have suffered racism and who acknowledge that racism and other forms of discrimination still exist, feel unloved by the status quo. They feel unacknowledged. They feel the cards are stacked against them to benefit those on top, who mostly look like white males. Black Lives Matter is a direct result of these feelings.

This is where the vortex begins: identity politics leads white males to nationalism, which leads non-white males to identity politics.

In order to break the cycle, we all need to empathize with each other and understand why we each feel the way we do. We need to love each other for who we are. We need to feel each other's pain and share each other's success. As the most powerful group, it's on white males to make the first move. Only by first empathizing and putting your head in the other person's mind can you then come together and bring another person into your own.

 

[HamPhan]

 

[The Sausage King]

Or, we could simply label BLM and the far left violent agitators as the domestic terrorists they are and act accordingly

 

[GearSolidMetal]

Of the 300+ million guns in this country, I'm sure my side will have most of them, not counting the US military.

And I'm already gunned up for the apocalypse.

 

[Dolomite]

As the most powerful group, it's on white males to make the first move.

 

[freaky]

Impossible. How can we find a middle ground when the views of the 2 parties are so opposite. You can't have 2 alphas in a group. There can only be one. I will kill every single one of you cucks.

 

[DevilsLettuce]

Don't be so melodramatic. All we need is the apathy to remain comfortable.

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

Part of this is a persistent victim culture.
Everybody's got a sob story, everybody's a victim of this oppression or that injustice, consumed by this FB outrage or that rumored assault on their rights.
They tell themselves that the world/country /racial group is trying to hold them down, and what do you know, they see evidence of it everywhere they look.
People have legit gripes but need to stop being overly sensitive.

 

[AviatorShades]

Remind me why we want to avoid a civil war, why we would "be sorry" if Putin and Trump threw liberals into camps?

Why I wouldn't be the first to volunteer as a guard at said camp?

You guys sure like to make assumptions.

 

[dontsnitch]

I disagree that straight white males do not claim victim status. They do, it's just that their narrative is ignored by the other groups claiming victim status.

 

[Sir Galahad]

Throughout history there have been thousands of wars. It's hard to conceive of war taking place on North American soil, civil or otherwise, but it could happen. This is how it starts. The lines are drawn, people form groups, and people perceive other groups as threats to their own.

Identity politics has created a victim story for every group of people except straight able bodied white males, who happen to be the most powerful group in terms of wealth and status overall. Black lives matter, gender bathrooms, reparations, everyone has a victim story, except white guys. White males feel unloved. They feel unacknowledged, both for their successes and their failures. Rather than create their own victim story and feeling sad, instead white males turn to nationalism as a way to take everyone else's identity and victim stories away. White guys are saying, "You're not black, I don't see black, you're American." "I don't care if you're gay or straight, use the men's room." By replacing all identities with one identity, white males believe they are bringing everyone together, unifying people, ending racism and other prejudices.

In response, other people who perceive to have suffered racism and who acknowledge that racism and other forms of discrimination still exist, feel unloved by the status quo. They feel unacknowledged. They feel the cards are stacked against them to benefit those on top, who mostly look like white males. Black Lives Matter is a direct result of these feelings.

This is where the vortex begins: identity politics leads white males to nationalism, which leads non-white males to identity politics.

In order to break the cycle, we all need to empathize with each other and understand why we each feel the way we do. We need to love each other for who we are. We need to feel each other's pain and share each other's success. As the most powerful group, it's on white males to make the first move. Only by first empathizing and putting your head in the other person's mind can you then come together and bring another person into your own.

 

[lilelvis]

Seems like the white people have made the first, second, third, fourth..... Ah, you get it.
Point is, the idea of America is opportunity, not results.. The results are the responsibility of the individual. There are tons of people from every walk, every color, every religion, every culture known that have assimilated, applied themselves and become very successful.
So who's move is it really?

 

[Falsedawn]

Y'know, I really did used to agree with you.

A lot of people can recall when I first started posting in the War Room, I was actually a fairly well sourced and level individual in my posting. I tried my damndest to articulate my beliefs in the most even handed and well meaning way, and to empathize with those posting who disagreed with me. But alas, this is the War Room. Attempts to tackle racial issues are met with calls of "pulling the race card" and "enabling white genocide". Attempts to address income inequality evoke "socialism" virtue signaling and NIMBY attitudes. You're told you're a communist, that you're just crying, that you're a cuck, that you hate America.

So imagine when over time, you begin to meet the level of your opponents. What's the point of quoting sources if nobody is going to read them? What's the point of trying to address legitimate issues when they can be handwaved like *that*? Conservatives like to bemoan the "smug liberal style", but what the hell am I supposed to do if 20 sources don't sway you from your position built off no evidence? If you want to be ignorant, that's your choice, but don't expect me to enable that. So you begin to resent them for not thinking, for being so fucking obtuse that they're willing to do anything and everything to not challenge their worldview and for what?

Empathy is a two way street, and it's not a street we're on right now. Congress is a phenomenal example of this. 6 years of obstructionism, 13% approval ratings, the most worthless congress in American history, and they were rewarded in the election with a 97% retention rate. This was my "oh shit, we're in the War Room" moment. I'm over here worrying about being ethical and considering the facts when pure demagoguery is what won the election. This is apparently America. Up is down, black is white.

So now, i'm not empatizing with a goddamn person. If Trump takes your healthcare and delays a replacement, I hope you die in the street. If he wants to stoke White Nationalist sentiments, then I guess i'll just have to be locked and loaded for when shit pops off. I'm done fighting the river, i'm more than happy to watch the morons cut their own throat and sit idly by while they bleed out. Maybe they'll prove me wrong, but i'm not holding my breath.

Our last president tried to bring everyone together with 1/1000th of the baggage that our incoming one has, and one side in particular said "fuck you,". Preached in church how he was the devil, the lies, the spin, just outright disrespect from the moment Mitch McConnell said go. Don't expect common courtesy from here on when it comes to politics. We're way through the looking glass now, the game is entirely changed.

 

[LilMountain]

Or we just let the west coast and new England secede

 

[11_others]

After talking to liberal progressives on this forum, I'm kinda looking forward to it.
{<Mcgoat}

 

[Breakfast Bar]

Y'know, I really did used to agree with you.

A lot of people can recall when I first started posting in the War Room, I was actually a fairly well sourced and level individual in my posting. I tried my damndest to articulate my beliefs in the most even handed and well meaning way, and to empathize with those posting who disagreed with me. But alas, this is the War Room. Attempts to tackle racial issues are met with calls of "pulling the race card" and "enabling white genocide". Attempts to address income inequality evoke "socialism" virtue signaling and NIMBY attitudes. You're told you're a communist, that you're just crying, that you're a cuck, that you hate America.

So imagine when over time, you begin to meet the level of your opponents. What's the point of quoting sources if nobody is going to read them? What's the point of trying to address legitimate issues when they can be handwaved like *that*? Conservatives like to bemoan the "smug liberal style", but what the hell am I supposed to do if 20 sources don't sway you from your position built off no evidence? If you want to be ignorant, that's your choice, but don't expect me to enable that. So you begin to resent them for not thinking, for being so fucking obtuse that they're willing to do anything and everything to not challenge their worldview and for what?

Empathy is a two way street, and it's not a street we're on right now. Congress is a phenomenal example of this. 6 years of obstructionism, 13% approval ratings, the most worthless congress in American history, and they were rewarded in the election with a 97% retention rate. This was my "oh shit, we're in the War Room" moment. I'm over here worrying about being ethical and considering the facts when pure demagoguery is what won the election. This is apparently America. Up is down, black is white.

So now, i'm not empatizing with a goddamn person. If Trump takes your healthcare and delays a replacement, I hope you die in the street. If he wants to stoke White Nationalist sentiments, then I guess i'll just have to be locked and loaded for when shit pops off. I'm done fighting the river, i'm more than happy to watch the morons cut their own throat and sit idly by while they bleed out. Maybe they'll prove me wrong, but i'm not holding my breath.

Our last president tried to bring everyone together with 1/1000th of the baggage that our incoming one has, and one side in particular said "fuck you,". Preached in church how he was the devil, the lies, the spin, just outright disrespect from the moment Mitch McConnell said go. Don't expect common courtesy from here on when it comes to politics. We're way through the looking glass now, the game is entirely changed.

You still have my love and empathy. Also, if you want to direct me to some of your old posts, I will try my best to read some of the sources you cited and which were ignored by others.

 

[Fawlty]

Y'know, I really did used to agree with you.

A lot of people can recall when I first started posting in the War Room, I was actually a fairly well sourced and level individual in my posting. I tried my damndest to articulate my beliefs in the most even handed and well meaning way, and to empathize with those posting who disagreed with me. But alas, this is the War Room. Attempts to tackle racial issues are met with calls of "pulling the race card" and "enabling white genocide". Attempts to address income inequality evoke "socialism" virtue signaling and NIMBY attitudes. You're told you're a communist, that you're just crying, that you're a cuck, that you hate America.

So imagine when over time, you begin to meet the level of your opponents. What's the point of quoting sources if nobody is going to read them? What's the point of trying to address legitimate issues when they can be handwaved like *that*? Conservatives like to bemoan the "smug liberal style", but what the hell am I supposed to do if 20 sources don't sway you from your position built off no evidence? If you want to be ignorant, that's your choice, but don't expect me to enable that. So you begin to resent them for not thinking, for being so fucking obtuse that they're willing to do anything and everything to not challenge their worldview and for what?

Empathy is a two way street, and it's not a street we're on right now. Congress is a phenomenal example of this. 6 years of obstructionism, 13% approval ratings, the most worthless congress in American history, and they were rewarded in the election with a 97% retention rate. This was my "oh shit, we're in the War Room" moment. I'm over here worrying about being ethical and considering the facts when pure demagoguery is what won the election. This is apparently America. Up is down, black is white.

So now, i'm not empatizing with a goddamn person. If Trump takes your healthcare and delays a replacement, I hope you die in the street. If he wants to stoke White Nationalist sentiments, then I guess i'll just have to be locked and loaded for when shit pops off. I'm done fighting the river, i'm more than happy to watch the morons cut their own throat and sit idly by while they bleed out. Maybe they'll prove me wrong, but i'm not holding my breath.

Our last president tried to bring everyone together with 1/1000th of the baggage that our incoming one has, and one side in particular said "fuck you,". Preached in church how he was the devil, the lies, the spin, just outright disrespect from the moment Mitch McConnell said go. Don't expect common courtesy from here on when it comes to politics. We're way through the looking glass now, the game is entirely changed.

Bravo.

And it's only January eleventh.

 

[nostradumbass]

Part of this is a persistent victim culture.
Everybody's got a sob story, everybody's a victim of this oppression or that injustice, consumed by this FB outrage or that rumored assault on their rights.
They tell themselves that the world/country /racial group is trying to hold them down, and what do you know, they see evidence of it everywhere they look.
People have legit gripes but need to stop being overly sensitive.

Surprised to hear you say that. That is exactly correct.

 

[Deleted member 457759]

TS I think your analysis is pretty good but I think it's a little less even handed then that. White males have been dehumanized. You don't have to go much further than taking a look at a lot of socially accepted literature that's been brewing on the left for the past few decades. "White men are racist", or "white men are privileged". No matter how you slice it there are large swaths of white males who were also born with nothing, have come from abused homes with zero capital or benefits what so ever. Just imagine if you suffered growing up and then learned that you will be passed up for a job, scholarship, grant, or any opportunity because of your skin color. Or just plain being told that you're privileged when you're clearly disadvantaged. It's a mind fuck.

Some feminist literature calls for the culling of white males. Some groups can openly call for the destruction of white males on twitter, facebook, and in universities and it's accepted.

This is blatant racism. I understand that racism exists against black people but it's not socially or politically accepted. And I don't mean white people asking the black community to take some personal responsibility. You're right it's a two way street but I think white male culture has steadily made compromise after compromise over the decades to the point where black culture has largely been embraced and white people self govern their own racism to the point where their practically eating each other alive for sometimes speaking the truth.

 

[Teppodama]

Empathy is just an antiquated construct of the homo-sapien speciarchy designed to keep alpha predators down.