Current Events > Is there any way to go back to believing most people are decent?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Or is this just America now, where theres a 50/50 chance with any given person.

I used to think there was a difference between true Republicans andthese people, but now im not so sure.

Its seriously affected my worldview and now im just sad all the time. Is the only solution to move to another country where I can have the belief that most people are decent and those cancerous scum trying to poison the world with their -isms, phobias, greed and corruption are just a small minority that everyone laughs at?

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yeah, stop doom-scrolling on social media, especially on twitter, if you do

spend more time outside and meeting new people and walking around where there's lots of people having a good time like at the park or the beach and stuff

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Nah. You just have to sort through the craps to find the decent people.

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No.

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pure_temper posted...

yeah, stop doom-scrolling on social media, especially on twitter, if you do

spend more time outside and meeting new people and walking around where there's lots of people having a good time like at the park or the beach and stuff

Oh hell yes, I gave up on all social media a long time ago for that exact reason. Recently my method has just been to bury my head in the sand and try not to discuss or even acknowledge politics in any way IRL, so I dont know what the person I meet believes so MAYBE theres a chance that they are good and who they are projecting outwardly is who they are.

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No, but I don't really want to believe something that's demonstrably false either.

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Just stop viewing everything politically. I live in a deep red city and I know 70% of the people I interact with here hold abhorrent views, but when I'm just out at the farmer's market or getting my car fixed and I'm just chatting to strangers, they are perfectly pleasant as long as we're talking about work or our kids or sports or whatever. Most people aren't actually just out and about trying to make everyone's life worse.
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EffectAndCause posted...

Oh hell yes, I gave up on all social media a long time ago for that exact reason. Recently my method has just been to bury my head in the sand and try not to discuss or even acknowledge politics in any way IRL, so I dont know what the person I meet believes so MAYBE theres a chance that they are good and who they are projecting outwardly is who they are.

challenge yourself to question your own political beliefs more regularly. because chances are if you've not done that regularly, you're not actually holding the best position on the subjects you care most about.

and that isolation causes you to stew in your own biases/beliefs, shutting out quality conversation with people on the other side of the fence who may very well have the superior arguments

and you also have to realize that people compartmentalize. meaning that someone who is brilliant in 99% of their views may have a lapse in 1% of their views, because humans are not perfect.

if you do not believe most people are decent, it's your own fault and it is a matter of pride. but you are taking the right steps by asking via this thread, to reduce the pride. so good work! keep it up!

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pure_temper posted...

challenge yourself to question your own political beliefs more regularly. because chances are if you've not done that regularly, you're not actually holding the best position on the subjects you care most about.

Actually in every debate between a liberal and a conservative I ALWAYS root for the conservative because I want my beliefs to be challenged and to say Hm, ive never thought of it that way, but unfortunately that almost never happens and it ends up being the usual shit flinging and the word woke being used at some point.

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lilORANG posted...

Just stop viewing everything politically. I live in a deep red city and I know 70% of the people I interact with here hold abhorrent views, but when I'm just out at the farmer's market or getting my car fixed and I'm just chatting to strangers, they are perfectly pleasant as long as we're talking about work or our kids or sports or whatever. Most people aren't actually just out and about trying to make everyone's life worse.

Isn't voting republican literally trying to make everyone's life worse other than the filthy stinking rich?

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Get out more. I don't mean that to sound insulting but I think with TV and the internet we se the worst out of people, people being good doesn't get ratings or clicks. When I get these kinds of feelings I just go to the park and sit there and watch people be people. Does that mean all that bad people disappear? No, but you are so inundated with the bad that you forget to look outside and see the world being better than it appears

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LightHawKnight posted...

Isn't voting republican literally trying to make everyone's life worse other than the filthy stinking rich?

Yes, but how often do people vote republican? Like 3x a year if they go to all the special elections? You're viewing everything politically, which is what I just suggested not to do.
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LeperMessiahXX posted...

Get out more. I don't mean that to sound insulting but I think with TV and the internet we se the worst out of people, people being good doesn't get ratings or clicks. When I get these kinds of feelings I just go to the park and sit there and watch people be people. Does that mean all that bad people disappear? No, but you are so inundated with the bad that you forget to look outside and see the world being better than it appears

Yeah I actually try to interact with people as much as I can, especially ones that would typically fall under the Trump banner like blue collar/tradesman white people because I really want to believe that theyre good and regular, but its just hard to shut off the part of my brain that thinks who is this person really. Is it better to not know and live in blissful ignorance or is the truth more important?

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pure_temper posted...

yeah, stop doom-scrolling on social media, especially on twitter, if you do

spend more time outside and meeting new people and walking around where there's lots of people having a good time like at the park or the beach and stuff

Gonna go with this. Most people are fine if you actually interact with them. Politics brings out the worst in people, and the mudslinging people do paints people in an even worst light.

For the majority of us, we have no control over politics so there's no point in getting too wrapped up in it.

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EffectAndCause posted...

Yeah I actually try to interact with people as much as I can, especially ones that would typically fall under the Trump banner like blue collar/tradesman white people because I really want to believe that theyre good and regular, but its just hard to shut off the part of my brain that thinks who is this person really. Is it better to not know and live in blissful ignorance or is the truth more important?

That's another thing. Unless you're out there campaigning all day, people's politics is only a small part of who they are. People have hobbies, jobs, relationships, and a whole lot of other things they deal with. Their political beliefs isn't like their "true self" or anything. I have some anti-vaxxers in my work place, but I'm not going to go into work starting shit with them every day. We can work fine together without it.

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