I think I’ve figured it out
I just read this post on John Scalzi’s blog about how pathetic it would be if John Kerry managed to lose this election. Despite Scalzi’s wonderful writing, something about his reasoning just struck me as a little bit off. It took me a bit of thought, but I think I’ve come up with the answer: taking a cue from the President himself, Bush’s supporters think that changing their minds about voting for him is a sign of weakness.
Bush has pulled off a fantastic bit of legerdemain here: he’s managed to convince about half of the nation that reconsidering their options, that taking a second look at the facts, that changing course at all is foolish. And they’ve swallowed it, hook, line, and sinker. It’s been pointed out numerous times that in real life, people who carefully consider new evidence and change their minds are considered wise and careful, while in politics according to Bush, they’re “flip-floppers.” And now, he’s managed to cow these poor folks into not even considering new facts, much less changing their minds based on them.
I might be wrong here. I might be way off base. But what else can explain this behaviour? What else would drive so many people, who quite possibly are intelligent and thoughtful people in other areas of their lives, to vote for a person so obviously incompetent? A person whose record includes so many utter failures and lies?
I think they’re just embarassed, and hope if they plug their ears, close their eyes, and walk blindly into the polling booths, perhaps Bush will redeem their faith in the next go-round. Here’s your wake-up call: he’ll only get worse.
If any Bush supporters would like to enlighten me, I’d love to know how you reconcile his utter incompetence in so many areas to the point where you feel it’s a good idea to support him. You and I have been looking at the same things for the past four years, and I just don’t see how, given all that, any logical, rational, or reasonable person can decide that voting for Bush is the right thing to do.
October 10th, 2004 at 9:53 pm
I’m a Bush supporter, as I think you know. However, I’m not going to tell you why I’m going to vote for him. Do you want to know WHY I’m not going to tell you? Let me give you a few hints:
“What else would drive so many people, who quite possibly are intelligent and thoughtful people in other areas of their lives, to vote for a person so obviously incompetent?”
“I think they’re just embarassed, and hope if they plug their ears, close their eyes, and walk blindly into the polling booths, perhaps Bush will redeem their faith in the next go-round.”
“…I’d love to know how you reconcile his utter incompetence…”
“…I just don’t see how, given all that, any logical, rational, or reasonable person…”
You demonstrate in these sentences your inability to open up your own mind to other points of view. This point of view saddens me, Ryan, it really does, because I know you’re better than that. Or maybe I just believe it, but I THINK I know it, because our dealings have suggested that you’re usually a reasonable person. But these comments aren’t reasonable. You don’t really want anyone to explain anything to you, because your mind is already made up. Bush is stupid. Anyone who agrees with Bush is stupid. Anyone who thinks Bush is doing a good job is stupid. And why are they stupid? Because they OBVIOUSLY can’t see things the way you see them, the correct way.
I’m getting so tired of this… It just pains me to my very soul. Do you know what it’s like to be told by SO many people that you’re a stupid, worthless human being MERELY because your political views differ from theirs? Do you know what it’s like to have people you once considered, if not exactly your friends, acquaintances strong enough that they might be able to blossom into friendships, even if you rarely saw each other in person, suddenly behave as though you’re beneath contempt, beneath notice, beneath the very bottom level of human intelligence merely because they don’t think the presidential candidate YOU like should be elected president?
I’m guessing you don’t know this, because if you did, if you really cared about getting an answer to this question, and if you really cared about the Bush supporters you’re asking to GIVE you the answer, you would find some way to phrase the questions so as to respect not only their differing opinions but them as people. The thing is, I’m sure you didn’t mean to come across the way you did, and I’m sure you didn’t mean anything by it. But that makes it worse, to me, because then it’s something so ingrained in you, something so a part of your being that it’s not something that can just be “fixed.” If you’ve already made up your mind about this, and the only people who can give you the answers are people so irredeemably stupid as to like Bush, how can you trust what they say anyway? Won’t they just babble moronically, since “[you] just don’t see how…any logical, rational, or reasonable person can decide that voting for Bush is the right thing to do.”
I’m not going to play the game, Ryan, I’m just not. For the time being, I’m going to continue to treat you with the respect I think you deserve not only as a human being, but also as someone I know and, to some degree, like. But you’re a lot closer to calling me a flat-earther and someone who’s brainwashed merely because he believes in God than I thought/hoped you were. I sincerely hope you don’t cross over all the way, because then it will truly be as impossible for me to respect you as it is for you to respect me now.
If you wish to have a mature, level-headed discussion about these things, you know where to find me. Then again, as I’m a Bush supporter, I can’t imagine why you’d bother wasting your time.
October 10th, 2004 at 11:29 pm
Matthew,
You’re wrong about this, and here’s why: an opinion that I hold is not something that I can logically see is wrong. If I did see a flaw in it, I wouldn’t hold the opinion; I’d change it until it doesn’t seem fallacious. I hold my opinions because I believe, utterly and completely, that they are correct. This is what an opinion is.
However, this completely does not mean that I am not open to hearing challenges to my opinion. In fact, the fact that I believe my opinion is correct means that I am anxious to hear challenges to it, because every challenge it faces and survives strengthens it. I welcome challenges. I would love for my opinions to be as strong as possible.
The very fact that I am asking for you, and people who hold similar opinions to you, to present me with some logical arguments that my opinions are incorrect is proof that I am open to considering other opinions. Truth is, I don’t know what you could possibly present as proof (if I did know, I’d already have considered it). But I am perfectly willing to consider it. Show it to me; if it is strong, and logical, and well-reasoned, I’ll gladly modify my opinions.
You seem to think that opinions are something you form and then refuse to ever stand behind. You seem to think that presenting one’s opinion is akin to an utter refusal to accept that anyone may hold an opinion other than it. You seem to think that it is okay to hold an opinion, hear it challenged, and then not respond to that challenge. Listen: you can’t have it both ways! If you hold an opinion, it is (or should be) because you believe that opinion is utterly correct. When you believe it is correct, you defend it. If your defense fails, so be it: you modify your opinion, if you’re smart.
But what you absolutely do not do is refuse to argue your opinion, because that is an implicit admission that you do not believe your opinion is strong enough to stand up to argument.
I’m more than willing to put my opinions out there for anyone to respond to. There are millions of people out there who hold different opinions, and I am inviting each and every one of them to try and convince me that my opinion is based on a fallacy. I don’t believe it can be done; that’s why I hold the opinions. But if they show me some irrefutable evidence that what I believe is wrong, I will instantly take that into consideration.
So, if you really believe that merely holding an opinion makes me unwilling to consider other viewpoints, then, by all means, refuse to attempt to argue yours with me. I’ll take that as an admission that you don’t believe your opinion is strong enough to stand up to debate. If you do think it’s strong enough, however, I’d love to find out why.
October 11th, 2004 at 10:44 am
Matthew, as much as I understand the point you’re trying to make, you can’t possibly criticize Ryan for not understanding how someone can support Bush if you refuse to explain why it is you support Bush.
Ryan, unfortunately, Bush supporters have different underlying assumptions than Bush opponents. And the two not only disagree on their underlying assumptions, but they can’t even fathom the logic behind the other’s underlying assumptions.
To Kerry supporters, Bush is stupid and incompetent and lacking in any appreciation of nuance. Which maybe isn’t his fault but obviously makes him unqualified to be president. Bush supporters see the flip side of those same attributes. They see Bush as someone who doesn’t try to make things overly complex, unlike most politicians. They see him as having a clearly defined vision (which opponents see as simplistic). They see him as a man of faith, where opponents see him as a Crusader with a Messiah Complex. They see Kerry as Godless. They see Kerry as a guy who thinks he’s soooooo smart and a show off.
Bush and Kerry appeal to different kinds of people. Bush supporters aren’t irrational (even if their train of though might seem irrational to you and me).
Yes, I do think the Bush “vision” is simplistic and doesn’t recognize the complexities of the world. The naivete has been cruely exposed in Iraq. That’s one of the many reasons why I won’t vote for him.
Others say that it’s a good idea in the long term, it just has some inevitable difficulties in the short term. So they’ll stick with Bush.
The general perception that Bush has a clearly defined vision and Kerry doesn’t. Bush supporters think that a vision is better than no vision, since politics abhorrs a vacuum. Bush opponents think that no vision is preferable to a bad, ill-conceived or dangerous vision, since politics should follow the Hippocratic Oath (First, do no harm). It’s these differing fundamental assumptions that are the divide in America today.