Feels hopeless.....

[Chickpea]

This thread is not meant to disparage anyone or their views and I really have no desire to start re-hashing politics - there are a ton of threads and posts where all can share their views - I am posting this now because I had such a depressing talk with friends last night about upcoming elections...

I have recently been feeling so incredibly completely out of my element here. Beautiful place, very kind, giving and generous people, a lovely place BUT I am so acutely aware of how conservative it is here.... I feel at times I am in a time warp - rest of the world moving forward and we here moving backwards - I honestly fault no-one and think it is just me and not everyone else - my views of the world (hardly unique!) is just too foreign to too many people here and I simply cannot relate to too many people's lives, desires and thoughts about the rest of the world - I feel quite isolated - does anyone else feel this way???

 

[JustaLocal]

Not me.

 

[Beach Runner]

Gosh, compared to the people where I live, on the average the people on this message board seem very liberal to me with regard to politics, social issues, etc. In my town people have replaced their W stickers with McCain stickers. And if you don't go to First Methodist, First Baptist, or First Presbyterian, you are considered "different." You don't dare curse unless you are willing to be shunned. If you are a female who works, you are also not "in the club." Just a few examples.

 

[GoodWitch58]

Yes, Chickpea, I know what you mean. It is not just you; and it can get discouraging...but, find some like minded people. They are here. And hold on to your vision--it does help to travel as much as possible.

 

[Smiling JOe]

I'm fiscally conservative and socially liberal, so I'm not sure if I meet your definition of "conservative." I think there is wide mix of people in SoWal who may also fit this loose description. I don't think of myself as a "conservative," in the media's definition, which seems very distorted, IMO. My beliefs have absolutely zero to do with poliTRICKS.

 

[rapunzel]

Of course, Chickpea.

I can't say I feel foreign, but I always did say that I felt like I was abandoned on the doorstep of the people who raised me, and then thought if I could just get out of my hometown everything would be fine...it was backwards, not me. Then it was my college, then the place I went to work...then, I figured I was just a freak and I'd better learn to keep my mouth shut.

As out of sync with the prevailing views as I sometimes feel, it actually seems so much better right now than it has for me in years. When I went to South Carolina to volunteer for a Democrat, I was appalled that JDarg posted it for all to see. For years, it was something I didn't want to have to discuss or defend in polite company -- that liberal streak of mine.

What scares me most about your post is that you are one of the most interesting and talented people I've met around here. If you feel isolated and despondent, well...we are a pretty insular and stupid little spot on the map that will never evolve or be a dynamic, interesting place. Agrestic with moneyed rednecks....what a nightmare.

Before the knives come out -- I am not saying that conservatives are rednecks, I'm saying that people who belittle the ideas of others and don't embrace a diversity of thought are rednecks. Small-minded, backward, insular, rednecks.

I've had those conversations, the ones were people try to convince you that you're a bit weird and no one else thinks like you. Or worse, the ones where people imply that you are now one of the moneyed class and it's time to let you in on the secret -- this is the way the world works and how we keep an elite few moving the country forward and protect the sheeple from themselves. Republicans understand the markets, and Democrats with their fairness and oversight will make us all poor like the sheeple and destroy the country. It's such a sickening ploy, and so seedy that so many people actually think that way.

Think about the way you're feeling this morning, and think about how many people have been just like you -- optimistic, hopeful, ready to roll up their sleeves and work to help bring about change -- and then they went to the same cocktail party, had the same conversation, and left feeling so hopeless and defeated. No wonder we all feel isolated. No wonder nothing ever changes. Making you feel like a naive, idealistic fool is half the battle for those people.

Watch this --

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fZHou18Cdk"]YouTube - Yes We Can Obama Song by will.i.am[/ame]

and tell them FYYFF next time! Okay, do that in your head...and just give them a look of bemused pity.

 

[tofu]

Gosh, compared to the people where I live, on the average the people on this message board seem very liberal to me with regard to politics, social issues, etc. In my town people have replaced their W stickers with McCain stickers. And if you don't go to First Methodist, First Baptist, or First Presbyterian, you are considered "different." You don't dare curse unless you are willing to be shunned. If you are a female who works, you are also not "in the club." Just a few examples.

It's definitely like that here, especially Freeport or DeFuniak Springs... at least in the tourist areas of SoWal, some of the tourists are liberal.

I feel the same way all the time, Chickpea. It's not as much about being fiscally conservative, or republican... it's the narrow-mindedness, the resistance to change, the KJV Bible-thumping mentality, etc...

You said it very well rapunzel

 

[scooterbug44]

This thread is not meant to disparage anyone or their views and I really have no desire to start re-hashing politics - there are a ton of threads and posts where all can share their views - I am posting this now because I had such a depressing talk with friends last night about upcoming elections...

I have recently been feeling so incredibly completely out of my element here. Beautiful place, very kind, giving and generous people, a lovely place BUT I am so acutely aware of how conservative it is here.... I feel at times I am in a time warp - rest of the world moving forward and we here moving backwards - I honestly fault no-one and think it is just me and not everyone else - my views of the world (hardly unique!) is just too foreign to too many people here and I simply cannot relate to too many people's lives, desires and thoughts about the rest of the world - I feel quite isolated - does anyone else feel this way???

It really depends who you are talking to - there are probably a lot of people who share your viewpoints and politics, but they might not be the most vocal or the majority. Find just a few folks who share your opinions and use them for a reality check/safety valve when you feel overwhelmed or like an alien.

I always get a little nuts around election time here - I have learned to cope by focusing on the good candidates and hoping they can outvote the bad ones or that it will SOMEDAY come out in the wash when the legal system gets them for violations.

Booze helps too. ;-)

 

[Mango]

.

 

[30ashopper]

This thread is not meant to disparage anyone or their views and I really have no desire to start re-hashing politics - there are a ton of threads and posts where all can share their views - I am posting this now because I had such a depressing talk with friends last night about upcoming elections...

I have recently been feeling so incredibly completely out of my element here. Beautiful place, very kind, giving and generous people, a lovely place BUT I am so acutely aware of how conservative it is here.... I feel at times I am in a time warp - rest of the world moving forward and we here moving backwards - I honestly fault no-one and think it is just me and not everyone else - my views of the world (hardly unique!) is just too foreign to too many people here and I simply cannot relate to too many people's lives, desires and thoughts about the rest of the world - I feel quite isolated - does anyone else feel this way???

Have you ever taken the time to talk with these “backward conservatives” in an effort to understand why they feel the way they do? I have, being like Joe, socially liberal and conservative on fiscal/foreign policy. You want to know what happened when I did? By being open and accepting, I made a lot of friends, learned quite a bit, and also taught quite a bit. I have friends down here who I completely disagree with on things, we are still good friends, we still fish together, we hang out and talk politics.

I once had a number of friends out in California who were progressives, their views were similar to yours. They would never consider moving down here because it’s "too conservative". They also decided our friendship was no longer worthy once they found out I supported the war in Iraq. So now they are no longer my friends, which wasn't my decision, and I feel I’m better off for it. I'd rather surround myself with people who can agree to disagree, than surround myself with only those people who feel exactly as I do. How are you going to learn anything otherwise?

You're right, I too fear this country is moving backwards - but I feel that’s not because some folks are conservatives and some are liberal, it's doing so thanks to partisan and intolerant views I feel might be similar to your own. In the words of the great Rodney King, “Can’t we all just get along?” Apparently, for you, the answer to that question is.. "not unless we completely agree on politics."