And yes these same rules apply to someone who grew up hearing the US is an imperialist bully state.
I didn’t grow up hearing that, but I mean…
I see your point, and I hope I succeed in assuming people are interacting in good faith until shown otherwise most of the time, but at a certain point people also need to be responsible for questioning the narratives they have always accepted without having to be stroked and petted into doing so.
I grew up surrounded by rah rah USA#1 jingoism and a continuous dose of cold war propaganda in almost every bit of media I consumed. (It was the 70s/80s after all) And now I know that the US is an imperialist bully state with a lot of things in its past that folks like to try wishing out of existence rather than willingly examining.
I didn’t change a bunch of my opinions because the people I used to disagree with about many (not all) of these and related topics were nice to me about it. The things that have changed have changed because I was willing to consider new information.
Oh there’s definitely a difference between being nice and straight up rejecting someone. You can be firm while not sending them on their way. I think the important skill we all need to learn and practice is de-escalation. It’s really easy to get into this mode of defending yourself when that was never the point.
I didn’t grow up hearing that, but I mean…
I see your point, and I hope I succeed in assuming people are interacting in good faith until shown otherwise most of the time, but at a certain point people also need to be responsible for questioning the narratives they have always accepted without having to be stroked and petted into doing so.
I grew up surrounded by rah rah USA#1 jingoism and a continuous dose of cold war propaganda in almost every bit of media I consumed. (It was the 70s/80s after all) And now I know that the US is an imperialist bully state with a lot of things in its past that folks like to try wishing out of existence rather than willingly examining.
I didn’t change a bunch of my opinions because the people I used to disagree with about many (not all) of these and related topics were nice to me about it. The things that have changed have changed because I was willing to consider new information.
Oh there’s definitely a difference between being nice and straight up rejecting someone. You can be firm while not sending them on their way. I think the important skill we all need to learn and practice is de-escalation. It’s really easy to get into this mode of defending yourself when that was never the point.
I generally agree with you about this, which is probably good enough for this discussion. 🙂