I'm on your side, really!

[nygiantfan]

I was at a flea market today and began talking to the guy who ran the Knife Stand. Started casual enough, my friend was just looking for some knives and I was helping him look. All of a sudden the owner said, "yep, your generation is screwed."

Being polite, I listened to what the guy had to say. At first I was excited since he was talking about Carroll Quigley and remember reading about him from links on this forum. He handed me a paper on whatever he was trying to explain to me, and I noticed on the bottom that the paper cited sources such as the John Birch Society, Constitution Party website, FreedomForce, and infowars.com that I have visited before. That confirmed that he was on our "side", but his attitude towards me (ok I'm not the smartest kid on the street but I had done a bit of reading on what he was talking about) made me realize that I would have discredited anything any of you would have ever said to me if I was completely in the dark.

First off, he made some very rude comments, "can you read?", and didn't give me a second to respond until after three or four of his rants where he asked me if I understood. I told him I was having trouble following him and asked if he could recommend any literature for me. Never figured that one out, because he would go on another rant without really giving me something to read.

To make a long, one hour story short, the guy had the right intentions but he went about it in completely the wrong way. Assuming someone is completely in the dark their whole life about this stuff, you can't just turn on the light and expect them to believe what you say, much less take you seriously. The best thing he could have done was just recommend someplace I can go to learn about this stuff on my own, because that's really the way you have to expose yourself to it all.

I felt I had to let someone know so if this needs to be moved/locked do what you need to. I just think that experiencing this really opened up my eyes on how to better engage people when talking about so this and hope others can learn from it too :)

[Uriel999]

Yeah, man sometimes people may have the right ideas but don't realize they are not the only ones with them. He probably just assumed you were another Obamabot.

[Uriel999]

And this probably should be in the vent, but whateva, let the gods...errr mods decide.

[Kludge]

Being in the minority tends to make the individuals within that collective very arrogant...

[micahnelson]

Being sociable is a prerequisite to getting elected. It is also a quality sought after by people who enjoy being liked, accepted, and patted on the head every now and then.

The Non party types accept the outsiders, socially inept, and free thinkers. This is part of the reason we can't get middle america to go along with us. Most smooth talkers like being part of the crowd, or leading it.

This isn't to say, of course, being social is bad. Just an observation.

[BuddyRey]

Kinda reminds me of a cantankerous barber I used to visit. He would rant on and on about Obama, global government, and encroaching Fascism, but would mix in a lot of divisive religious and anti-gay rhetoric, and praised thugs like Oliver North, Alexander Haig, and Jesse Helms to the skies.

Any secular or liberal-minded person with an interest in the former subjects would be completely turned off of them by the reactionary and inconsistent conclusions drawn by folks like this.

I cut my own hair now! :D

[nygiantfan]

Kinda reminds me of a cantankerous barber I used to visit. He would rant on and on about Obama, global government, and encroaching Fascism, but would mix in a lot of divisive religious and anti-gay rhetoric

Yeah I forgot to mention the person I talked to threw in some anti-gay too. Like I said I think he had the right intentions, even offered advice on the variety of potato to grow once the SHTF.

[mediahasyou]

Yup. theres some ego problems around here. it's a symptom of the internet birth of this movement.

[silverhawks]

Tip - drop "sheeple", "obamabot", etc. Think of how it feels to be called a "paultard"...do you feel open to informed political discussion after that?

Basically - if Ron Paul doesn't stoop to name-calling, neither should his supporters.
I think part of his great appeal is that he is well-spoken, warm and educational, and emulating that would go a long way to getting the point across.

[Kludge]

Tip - drop "sheeple", "obamabot", etc. Think of how it feels to be called a "paultard"...do you feel open to informed political discussion after that?

Basically - if Ron Paul doesn't stoop to name-calling, neither should his supporters.
I think part of his great appeal is that he is well-spoken, warm and educational, and emulating that would go a long way to getting the point across.

Idunno about you, but being called a Paultard gives me a huge smile. Anything's better than when someone stares back at you blankly, nods, and says "yeah" in a high-pitched voice every few seconds.

[LittleLightShining]

Tip - drop "sheeple", "obamabot", etc. Think of how it feels to be called a "paultard"...do you feel open to informed political discussion after that?

Basically - if Ron Paul doesn't stoop to name-calling, neither should his supporters.
I think part of his great appeal is that he is well-spoken, warm and educational, and emulating that would go a long way to getting the point across.Thank you.


Idunno about you, but being called a Paultard gives me a huge smile. Anything's better than when someone stares back at you blankly, nods, and says "yeah" in a high-pitched voice every few seconds.I had nightmares during the primaries about being called a paultard.

[Dorfsmith]

I was at a flea market today and began talking to the guy who ran the Knife Stand. Started casual enough, my friend was just looking for some knives and I was helping him look. All of a sudden the owner said, "yep, your generation is screwed."

Being polite, I listened to what the guy had to say. At first I was excited since he was talking about Carroll Quigley and remember reading about him from links on this forum. He handed me a paper on whatever he was trying to explain to me, and I noticed on the bottom that the paper cited sources such as the John Birch Society, Constitution Party website, FreedomForce, and infowars.com that I have visited before. That confirmed that he was on our "side", but his attitude towards me (ok I'm not the smartest kid on the street but I had done a bit of reading on what he was talking about) made me realize that I would have discredited anything any of you would have ever said to me if I was completely in the dark.

First off, he made some very rude comments, "can you read?", and didn't give me a second to respond until after three or four of his rants where he asked me if I understood. I told him I was having trouble following him and asked if he could recommend any literature for me. Never figured that one out, because he would go on another rant without really giving me something to read.

To make a long, one hour story short, the guy had the right intentions but he went about it in completely the wrong way. Assuming someone is completely in the dark their whole life about this stuff, you can't just turn on the light and expect them to believe what you say, much less take you seriously. The best thing he could have done was just recommend someplace I can go to learn about this stuff on my own, because that's really the way you have to expose yourself to it all.

I felt I had to let someone know so if this needs to be moved/locked do what you need to. I just think that experiencing this really opened up my eyes on how to better engage people when talking about so this and hope others can learn from it too :)

This story reminds me a lot my local coin dealer. He's a big supporter of Ron Paul and all the right things but he's a total ass.