the id, the ego, & the single misfiring brain cell

part ii

I grew up in a deeply conservative area, in a deeply conservative religion. My family and friends were (and most still are) conservative in their politics. I was a Republican by default. When anyone used the word "liberal," it was with a sneer. I didn't know what Democrats believed or stood for, really. I just knew they were wrong, and to be pitied for their ignorance and backwardness.

No one actually said these things, by the way. I relate here only the unstated attitudes I absorbed with my mother's milk.

My beliefs were so strong, as a matter of fact, that I went into adulthood ignoring politics. I didn't need to do any research. I knew what I was. I was a Republican. Republican presidents were best. Reagan was a great president; Carter was embarrassing.

Even after I realized (around the age of 30) that I was an atheist, I still didn't stop to question my politics. It never occurred to me that they might be related. (This was before the two became so overwhelmingly enmeshed.)

So...this is a disclaimer. I was admittedly late coming to this game. This has pros and cons. Under "cons," I admit I just wasn't paying attention for a long time. There's a reason--beyond simple training in argument--that I ask for proof of any claims. When you say, "I've been watching politics for 50 years, and this is what I see," I accept that...but I need proof. I'm not saying you're wrong; I missed a lot, and I know that. However, I don't just take your word for your general ideas, either. I don't care how much time you've been watching.* Just as many people have been watching for the same period of time and come to opposite conclusions about how the world behaves, and why. Don't expect me to simply accept your conclusions because you've been alive (and/or paying attention) longer than I.

* If you were, my reasoning goes, it should be child's play to find primary or secondary sources which back you up.

Another obvious con is that I have a lot more homework to do when anyone argues with me. :) (Of course--Argument 101--if you make a claim, I expect you to do the homework required to prove it.)

But there are pros, too. I had many years to get an education, put some distance from my initial influences, and learn to think critically before I began to follow politics. So I began to ask *stupid questions.

* not-so-

I thought they were pretty elementary when I first asked them,* but it turns out, no one else really knew the answers, either. I didn't understand the difference between Democrats and Republicans, for starters. Pretty basic, huh? (Not so fast. ;) )

* Like when I came back into the Air Force at 33, and was faced with learning the language of military acronyms for where I was and what I did. I (stupidly) routinely asked people stuff like, "What does CREP mean?" The person who'd just said it would, if I was lucky, pause then say, "I don't know what it stands for, but I can explain what it is." If I wasn't lucky, they'd blink hard then stumble over some poorly-conceived understanding of something they never bothered to ask about themselves.

At some point, I was corrected when I assumed a Republican believed certain things. I was informed that he was a "conservative," and that they weren't the same. Oooooohkay. He was right--at least, in the politics of ten years ago, he was right. In today's politics? Still right, but it's far more understandable why I might use the terms synonymously without thinking twice.

Anyway. I began with conservative assumptions about the world. I may still harbor some unexamined ones. Otherwise, the ones I still have, I have weighed in my education and maturity, and found them worth keeping. If I am challenged on any of them and have no good rebuttal, I admit now that that particular value was unexamined until you said something.* Fair?

* Or perhaps it was, but I hadn't yet heard such a good argument. Or I was lacking information--an ongoing difficulty in politics.

Now. Background covered, what is it I believe now?

Later. I have a movie that needs watching right now. ;)

d