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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 19, 2022

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Can you date folks with different politics?

I watch this stream yesterday and i find it quite interesting. Im actually kinda in this situation now, i took a girl on a date, she made it obvious she was a progressive. I often dont share my own views on these things in real life, due to how toxic these conversations can be, so i just try to listen and empathize with where the person is coming from. Though im planning to open my mouth a little more about things on the 2nd go round, as to not give a misleading representation of who i am.

Whats interesting is that the streamer in question distinct "politics" from "human rights", she gives a pretty weak example with Roe V Wade. However i think the distinction between "politics" and "human rights" is shaky to begin with. No one really agrees on what human rights even are, per her roe example, gun control (constitutional arguably, but still) being another one, & there are still societies/people that arent accepting of LGBT although thats been on the decline over some decades. My guess is she is taking this to mean, "you probably shouldnt date a nazi", which is perfectly fine. But there arent a lot of those guys around in this day and age. For myself, i dont really believe any idea is above criticism, so i dont see how having a different idea of what constitutes human rights is much different from just having different politics.

According to pew research, most people, (myself included) are fine with dating people across the political aisle {note that many people wouldnt date a trump voter, but many would date a republican, but i suspect many people might view trump as a fundamentally immoral individual, and thus that makes him distinct from just mere disagreement}. I also find that peoples political beliefs arent good measures of how moral they are in real life. There are many progressives ive seen who were cheaters, liars, lazy, ect & conservatives who were kind hearted, hard working, & loving ect (& vice versa). But i want to know what you guys think.

I used to think it was entirely feasible, and I still suppose it could be along a number of different political issues, but everything in 2020 disabused me of the notion that it would be fine to be with someone with radically differing views. Starting with Covid, I don't really see how I could have reconciled the seething hatred that I felt (and feel) for the public health bureaucrats and lockdownists with a partner that wanted to stay home and stay safe. I don't think I could have tolerated being with someone that condoned BLMs riots as they tore down monuments to our city and smashed and looted our commercial district. I don't see how an anti-gun partner could tolerate my affinity for firearms - I'm going to have multiple guns, they're going to be in the house, and it's not really negotiable.

We can disagree about the proper role of central banking in the modern state, but we can't disagree about the things that are forced into the center of our lives. I suppose this is what's meant about the distinction between "politics" and "human rights", as I really do view freedom of movement, security of property, and the right to be armed as basic rights in a free society. For others, the things that are held in this fashion might be gay rights, abortion, or simply the reciprocal of what I said above (the "rights" to be free of sickness or not have guns around, at least in some framings).

Given the parameters of current year politics, I don't suppose I'd have much interest in dating someone with substantially different politics if I were single.

we can't disagree about the things that are forced into the center of our lives

In other words: politics!

I suppose this is what's meant about the distinction between "politics" and "human rights"

That's just a sleight of hand attempt on their part to move properly political questions into a sacred domain where their views will be beyond criticism. In exchange, they'll allow you to haggle over bureaucratic and administrative issues that no one actually cares about.

In other words: politics!

Not really. I honestly don't care very much what the local property tax rate is all that much. I have opinions, but it's not going to ruin my life if I get stuck paying an extra couple grand for some pointless makework project.

That's just a sleight of hand attempt on their part to move properly political questions into a sacred domain where their views will be beyond criticism. In exchange, they'll allow you to haggle over bureaucratic and administrative issues that no one actually cares about.

Didn't I just say that I have a bunch of things that I don't consider negotiable?

Your reply seems pretty unrelated to what I wrote. I don't get it.