A former classmate of mine, a doctor of rhetoric at a state university, posts a clever quip from a colleague:
“I have come to the conclusion that, if Dems get control, they pass laws requiring seat belts for cats. If Reps get control, they pass laws prohibiting unions. I’ll take the seat belt laws for cats.”
Sadly, this is in true.
When the Democrats have unfettered control of Congress and the presidency, they seek to compel citizens’ behavior in increasingly silly, minute, and trivial ways.
When Republicans have unfettered control of Congress, they seek to remove compulsory participation in self-perpetuating organizations without whose membership, citizens cannot hold certain jobs.
Sadly, the analogy isn’t true; six years of Republican control brought us an expansion of Medicare, No Child Left Behind, and BCRA instead of any decrease in Federalization.
I need to start a whole series called Arguing on Facebook to highlight how unreasonable even the most educated liberals in my circle are.
It’s a lot like the myth that last year’s financial collapse and recession were the product of free market capitalism. I’m not sure how to respond when I hear this, because it’s hard to argue with people when you disagree on not only the why but the what.
Perhaps keeping the discourse at a very shallow Hate The Other level is more comforting, since you have the illusion that if only you tried to engage them reasonably, you might change their minds.
Because their definition of reasonably falls awfully short of mine. Even when they’re highly educated and otherwise intelligent.
We’re at the point now where the Democrats would require union membership for cats.