Fatal flaws

[textualdeviance]

Sometimes, I really wish more folks on my side of politics would realize that there's a limit to negotiation and seeking consensus. Obviously, diplomacy is the first thing we should try in most situations, but we also have to have a plan for what to do when that fails.

For a political movement that claims to be based in empiricism and reality, we seem to have a really hard time recognizing that some people simply cannot be reasoned or bargained with, and that seeking compromise with them will always be futile.

And because it's so very critical to make political progress that helps people in crisis, we really can't afford to waste our time faffing around with people who have absolutely no intention of ever working with us in good faith. The more we try to seek consensus for its own sake, the more people suffer, and the more damage is done to our future.

I'm still gonna vote for him next year, because FSM help us if any of the assorted assweasels and sheer lunatics on the GOP side get in, but I really think Obama's biggest failure was squandering the Congressional majority he had, because he was earnestly (and naively) trying to negotiate with people who were never going to do so.

I do hope, that if he gets reelected and we get some power back in Congress, he finally cuts the bullshit and starts doing what needs to be done, regardless of the bleating of people who lie about economic realities (among other things) for their own gains. We're already in incredibly dire shape because of their BSing about OMG SOCIALIZM!! and their continued insistence on the fairy tale of supply side economics (note to the clueless: business does not expand--aka hire new workers--in a demand vacuum!) People who are willing to drive businesses and the entire economy into the ground because they get short-term gains out of it are NOT sane enough to be reasoned with. (And likewise with people whose entire moral compass comes from biblical literalism.)

Reasonable people can disagree about a lot of things, especially on the details of how to go about creating positive change. But there are certain red flags that pop up to say, "Yeah, this dude is mad as a box of frogs" that we really, really need to pay attention to, so we can stop wasting time and energy trying to get them to see sense. People who have an entirely different definition of reality, or who obviously don't actually care about anyone but themselves and people exactly like them are never, ever going to work with us. We need to stop trying to get them to do so.

Comments

[thefirstalicat.livejournal.com]

While I agree in general that the Repugnants have become more and more obstreporous in their behaviour, I think at least attempting to create a dialogue and negotiations has the virtue of pointing out just how ridiculous and entrenched their side has become, something that I think most reasonable people (and, despite media reports, the majority of Americans are still reasonable and moderate people) come to see as entirely untenable. So that their political base gets more and more radicalized and marginalized, and in the meantime the Dems can honestly point and say, "look, we tried to work with them on (name your issue), but see how they reacted," thus in essence showing themselves to be the more reasonable grown-up in the argument. And that is a useful thing in general, because it makes those Republicans who are not mad-as-rabid-dogs realize what those who are are doing to what is supposedly their party too, while at the same time it makes Dems look good.