This is going to be entirely too long.
Some time away from this place from time to time is good for the mental health. I highly recommend it.
But at the same time – I did miss it. Moved tapatalk off my home screen on my phone, but after a few days found myself occasionally lurking like a creeper. Shit I’ve been here for 20 years. Hard to go cold turkey.
The other day I started going back through old posts. Like really old posts – back in the beginning times. I was looking for one exchange in particular – something from 2012 that I still remember – that resonated with me and pushed me over the edge from a purplish, both parties suck guy to a blue voter.
I also went back to the start – and holy fuck it’s embarrassing to read my FYM posts between 2000 and 2005. Like honest to god horrifying to think about. In a way it’s also good, though. It reminds me of just how much personal experience shapes your beliefs. And also reminds me of how much people’s opinions can change – and how dumb it is to hold them to the fire over their thought process from 2 or 3 decades earlier – like has been done a million times this election cycle – vs. what they believe now.
I was in a fairly dark place in my early 20s. Sparing the gory details – but some shit went down around late 2001-early 2002 that really fucked me up (beyond the obvious events of the world and my home city at the time). It was no fault of my own, but I blamed myself anyways and questioned everything about who I thought I was. I retreated inward – moving back into my parents’ house after college – where my dad listened constantly to conservative talk radio and the newest hit – Fox News.. I was battling depression and spending the majority of time locked away in my room on the computer. In another world, at another time? I could see myself being sucked down that MAGA worm hole. My political posts from the early 2000s clearly reflect that.
This time period is also around the time I dove headfirst into Interference. To say Interference, and in the greater sense U2 and the U2 fan community saved my life is not an exaggeration. While I cut off my circle of friends in the outside to a select few around 2000 – this place, and the greater community as a whole gave me an outlet. (Side note - thank the fuck that reddit didn’t exist then).
2006 was the turning point for me in many ways. I hit rock bottom towards the end of 2005 and started a slow climb in the opposite direction. Things started turning more to the positive (albeit with a lot of work to do). Got a new, better job – moved out – and most importantly got some help. Shit still pops up here and there, but generally in a much better place.
Whether coincidental or not, this also coincided with my shift away from right wing politics. I was in a better place personally, and the party that I supported – mostly because of my environment – was responsible for dueling atrocities – Iraq and Katrina. Honestly it took Katrina to open up my eyes. After that, it was much easier to accept that we were lied to about the WMDs in Iraq. That they took advantage of our raw emotions over 9/11 to push ahead with a needless war.
Shifted from registered republican to “both parties suck” and “I’m socially liberal, fiscally conservative” for the next few years. Hadn’t fully abandoned the republican party just yet. Even voted red a few times – including 2012. I voted for Obama in 2008, but was willing to (and did) go back to the republicans with Romney in 2012 as I didn’t think Obama had handled the economy well in his first term, and Romney was enough in that purple territory to make sense to me.
And it was around this time – a couple of days before the election – that I found the exchange I was looking for. While yes, I voted red for president that month – I haven’t voted red since. And it was a pretty simple argument, and one that should have made more sense from the start – but simple, TV talking points guy never really looked at it that way prior to that.
https://www.u2interference.com/foru...discussion-vol-4-a-213838-49.html#post7590432
It was ultimately the final turning point for me from purple to blue – even if I may be more towards the right of the blue spectrum, and It was as true then as it is today.
I honest to god still come back to this years later.
Just pick the one that’s better. Who do you want nominating SC justices?
All of these guys suck. The system sucks. We all want change. How do we get that change? You’re either shifting people slowly, or you have a revolution. Well shit, the revolution stayed home. So what’s better? Another 4 years of this monstrosity? Or kicking the can a little further down the road and closer to the ultimate end goal?
I support Medicare for All. I don’t support Bernie Sanders because he had an unrealistic vision as to how to get there. Without revolution, it takes coalition building, and yes, that takes compromise. It’s how Obama got ACA passed. It was far from perfect – but here we are 10 years down the road and a one time controversial bill is well liked by a majority of voters across the spectrum, and every democratic candidate – even the more purpley ones – put forth a plan to amend it that would have been shot down as too far left in 2010. Things were progressing the way they needed to be. We’re now at a point where we can decide to continue down that road, or let President Sitting Bullshit take us back 50-70 years.
RBG? She’ll be dead by 2024.
What happens then to abortion rights? To gay marriage? Health Care? Please… any gains will be lost, and then some.
Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.
No one is asking you to actively like one party, or one candidate.
Just pick the one that’s better.