Racism is not the only argument

I know I swore off politics, but that doesn't mean I've stopped being criticized for the few basic principles I still feel strongly about. I have been criticized/straw-manned by people who said in as many words that I was a good, faceless comrade, except... those are the same people who then sneer and take a shit on words like "diversity" and "multi-culture."

I hear a lot that the only argument the left has against the right is "racism." It is not. In fact, that's a good illustration of my first point-- selective hearing. I can try and share all the reasons and information in the world, or ask something I sincerely want an answer to, but whether or not anything gets through is not something I can affect, unless my aim is to piss everyone off, in which case the obscenities are loud and clear.

I think the problem there is "truthiness." A better term is "emotivism," but truthiness is more biting-- 'a "truth" that a person claims to know intuitively "from the gut" without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts.' I feel like because people already "know," they don't need to listen. They CLEARLY have the answer. So what if dozens of reputable sources say something to contrary, personal experience makes you absolutely correct! Never mind that yours is an isolated case- it happened to YOU, and YOU KNOW everything there is to know on the subject because of this!

So discussion falls apart, because people feel their way through rather than reason it. Honest questions and argumentation become personal attacks, because I'm essentially telling them that they feel wrong, which isn't my aim, but I don't get to choose how people interpret things. If I wanted nothing more than to say "Fuck you," that's all I'd type, rather than take the time to weave it into a sociopolitical rant. It takes too much time, and I don't care enough to do that.

I'm gonna write what I believe, why, and then ask questions about differing points of view, ones that genuinely perplex me. Hopefully, by understanding where I'm coming from, and knowing that I'm not doing it to be a douche, I can get some honest, well thought out answers some day. I'm not gonna post them now, because it's 7:30 in the AM and I'm tired, but I'll get them out here one day. I'll write up a huge pre-rant thing before the questions so maybe you can get an idea of -why- I feel the way I do.

Sean