“What radicalized you?” Bro I was told to treat people the way I would want to be treated in kindergarten and it made sense idk what else there is to say
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For 12 years they made me stand up every morning, face the flag, and pledge myself to "liberty and justice for all" in an echo of a 1950s hope it would make me anti-communist.
No luck on that last bit, but even as dense as I am, I can see the lack of wiggle room in "for all".
When I realized that the golden rule was probably invented by bullies, given how it was used to shield them, and that it was better to treat others as they treat others.
“Treat others the way you want to be treated” pretty much gets thrown right out the window once you realize most people in this world are fine with hurting others if they can get away with it and it benefits them.
WAIT WAIT WAIT. I think we both messed up. I mean like having pain not inflicting it. Y'know the people who like being hurt? THEM. That's what I meant.
"life isn't fair" why not? Why aren't we actively working to make it fair? You literally told me "sharing is caring" my entire childhood and then called me a pinko commie lib for repeating it as an adult?
Was raised on the 10 Commandments, the 12 points of the Boy Scout law, and the Girl Scout law. Was told that this is how you get ahead in life.
I see now that this is not true.
Lie, defraud, bully, and hang out with others who do the same.
My Baptist Bible School taught me a song, “Jesus loves the little children, red and yellow, black and white” and I just kept believing that is truly consistent with the New Testament
I was a naïve 70’s teen. Back then I believe the movement to love each other, to make the world a better place, was real. It didn't go dark until Trump. I'm baffled why so many ppl are adopting his anger & desire to hurt others. And I'm worried for the younger generations. They don't deserve this.
A quote I read every morning first thing.
“If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth.”
I was a little older, Third grade. The Catholic school I attended had a poster prominent in the halfway outside my classroom with The Golden Rule. That's been my life's mission ever since.
Yes! And the cartoons we watched were like “we have to care for everyone!” Rainbow Brite didn’t understand Stormy, but respected her. The Carebears helped everyone and understood depression before kids had words for that.
"What radicalized you?" I have been seeing incredibly skilled and intelligent people fight to keep their heads above water and still have the energy to comfort other struggling people my whole life. People who can smile and still give you a ride, no questions asked.
Finally a place that feels like home, you are my people and I’m so grateful to have this platform. We must make this platform about love and peace and a world where we are treated equally. I don’t want to live in a world where money and fame and power are what dictates everything. Peace and love.
Hear hear. Kindness and generosity shouldn't be considered "radical", it should be considered "Basic human decency" and "the admission price for living in society".
I had the same life lesson. It seemed, and still does, as the best lesson. 'Do onto others as you would like done onto you'. It is a no Brainer in my book and still serves me well to this day. 🐶
But when Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders painted an obvious answer to why the government doesn't do enough to help or why we're not progressing due to corporate influence. It all started to click. I wanted my politicians who actually ran to help people not make money.
I took my kid to every vote with me - first one, she’s in the infant car seat, last one she’s a senior in high school. And THIS year, she got her own vote. She genuinely cannot understand why anybody sits them out.
Then I looked around and saw all the other kids fighting over toys and eating paste. Should've realized then that we weren't gonna make it as a species.
Yep, it seems reasonable to live this way.
Too many people play prisoner's dilemma all day long, expecting to be screwed over so try to do the screwing first.
It must be exhausting
Literally though, I have what I *think* is a real memory from around that age, of realizing that I was on the side of the picked on, and vowing to always be so. I think I might have even said it out loud. I don't remember the words but I remember the moment and the feeling.
My dad raised me to treat everyone from the janitor up to the CEO with the same respect. So glad I absorbed his values, because it makes my life much richer to have all kinds of people in it.
When I was a nurse, I tailored my response to what the individual needed. Marginalized people always got more respect, deference, and questions on what they specifically needed, because they usually don't get that. I got stories out the yin yang....
Exactly! I keep telling people the current definition of “woke” has effectively been reduced to respect. But the notion of “play nice” may be more apt.
My dad- Uber conservative Christian- can not understand why I am progressive. I’m like, am I the only one who read that book you kept pushing when I was a kid?
I used to have these fights with my dad and then finally realized there wasn’t any point to it. I’m not sure giving up was the right thing to do but it saved my sanity.
I realize not everyone followed this mantra, but it took me 35 years to stop being surprised when someone was so selfish. It was frustrating and disappointing but also freeing.
similar note: I was taught to be have, be kind be polite and be helpful and then I saw question time at Parliament House and I thought "That's it, these fuckers gotta go"
Seasame Street. I foolishly thought they were showing me a real place where people of different backgrounds all came together and treated each other like fellow citizens and humans.
My sister and I had a similar conversation. When she was asked by family why she is "so liberal", she said "because you took me to church when I was a little kid." For me, it was because they sat me down to watch Superman 1978 and shoved his comics in my hands at 5.
Coincidentally this is why republicans don't want children to be taught to be kind in kindergarten anymore. They want all the soft feelsie stuff like sharing and treating others with respect taken out of schools because being taught to be kind...results in kind adults D:
It is the way every controversial subject came down to "The fuck that gotta do with me." my government teacher even tried to convince me I would care about abortion if it was mine being aborted (fun fact: that isn't a possibility for me anyway. Not for that reason) and I had the same thought.
I grew up in a Catholic home. It wasn’t until I was saved in my mid 20s that my eyes were opened to the hate and bigotry that I had instilled in me from my raising.
Now I try to love people, help whomever I can, and find any unconscious bias/bigotry left to remove so my children won’t have to.
Sounds like something that these days would be considered to be, 'code for being anti-conservative' (just like 'war on disinformation' is supposedly, 'code for being anti-conservative')
This election radicalized me to be even more left-leaning. The “conservative” virtue signaling was never about genuine ignorance about our differences; it was spite.
Spite against anything that isn’t MAGA nationalist adjacent. Supporting every group they’re against is my mandate against fascism.
I used to read a little book called the Ducks friendly Society to my children. It had 2 rules 1) all big ducks look after little ducks 2) All little ducks look after big ducks.
They've grown to be principled progressives.
I took it to heart as a little kid and spent so much of my childhood and adolescence completely dismayed that most other people do not. My "kid brain" just couldn't understand why so many other people were mean, deceptive, and selfish.
I remember when I was 7 and we sang that song in Sunday school about how God loves all the little children. Then I was taught Matthew 7, and Matthew 25, and after that I realized Jesus was a radical leftist. That's when I realized had to be as left as Jesus and work everyday to be like Christ.
Ok perhaps more specifically: when did you realize that the promises of capitalism were lies and that it as system preserves and exacerbates unfairnesses by design?
That’s the heart of it, right? Treating others with kindness and respect should be the baseline for everyone. It’s frustrating that simple principles like that are considered 'radical' by some.
My relationship with nature and the world, my curiosities/tendency to question everything, and my open-mindedness. I suppose free and critical thinking would be here to🤔
I remember being told that too and now everyone is either proud to be a prick or don't understand how to be empathetic. Feels like the twilight zone sometimes :/
I was raised conservative Christian, but my mom and dad taught me several things that are cornerstones of liberal ideas: respect women, don't use slurs, treat everyone with kindness. We aren't conservative anymore, thanks to a lot more perspective
Most people forget that lesson because once we leave kindergarten we are told everyone else is an adversary with whom we must fight tooth and nail for the world's "limited" resources.
People MAKE the most important resources we need. They aren't as limited as some would have us believe.
Millions of Americans have simply abandoned a vision of our country as founded in justice, improvement, opportunity. We always fall short of that ideal, but, it’s been the force for growth and change. What’s radical is throwing that all away because eggs are more expensive now.
My friends asked me this too. My response is similar. I'd add though, I grew up dirt poor. Was raised by a single mom. She taught me to love & respect all people, especially the disadvantaged. It made sense & stuck with me.
When I was in kindergarten & 1st grade in the 70s, it was THIS show that we watched in school that I think set in place my entire belief system. “Free to be You and Me.” https://youtu.be/gwoyfT52Qt4?feature=shared
That's a great question. I think my upbringing and the values instilled in me growing up played a big role in shaping my perspective. Treating others with kindness and respect has always been important to me. It's interesting how simple lessons from childhood can have a lasting impact.
My mum showing me not to be racist or homophobic, and to make sure I always recycled and avoid food waste really radicalised me so bad. It's worrying knowing kids are being raised like this, gaslit into being responsible citizens.
I'm so sorry you went through that! I hope she didn't also radicalized you into donating books, clothes, and things in good condition that you have but don't need like my mom did!
Trully deplorable.
._.; Yeah basically. As questionable as my upbringing was at times I was taught to not hurt people or let others hurt people because that's the right thing to do. Humans are social creatures it only makes sense for us to support each other rather than kill each other ya know.
It's wild to me how some of these conservative types misinterpret "Darwinist" logic as "it's everyone for themself, pull yourself up" when in fact a huge part of why we've been able to build civilization is by taking care of each other
When someone complains about political correctness/wokeness off the internet, I typically say, “Oh, that’s interesting because I’ve always thought of it as just being polite and respectful.” And if they push I say, “I guess we were just raised differently.”
My kindergarten actually taught me “greed is good - if you step over others to get ahead and profit you will be successful and have a home with 10 beds yet no friends to fill them” but then someone said “sharing is caring” so I went with the latter.
It's weird when other guys have called me a radical feminist.
Feminism is political, social, and economic equality for women.
Equality.
The most radical all in interpretation of feminism is equal. Usually asking them what rights of women they would like to infringe on ends that chat quickly.
The greater majority of conservative men don’t want equality for women, but they make it sound like they’re doing us a favor, for which we should be grateful. “Want me to protect you from other men, push in your chair, open doors and pay for meals? Then shut up and enjoy the freedoms I allow you.”
I not only want my wife to be my equal, I need her to be. Sometimes I need her to step up and be stronger and better than me, and she always has. She's my rock.
And as the father of a daughter - how could I want anything other than success and equality for her?
The cruelty of this world is an aggressive infection destroying the simplicity of kindness, and the problem is maliciously misdiagnosed to perpetuate the cruelty.
My older brother, who’s now 73, and I were discussing the states that want the Ten Commandments in the schools. We both agreed the Sermon on the Mount would be a better choice if you had to choose something. Then he reminded me the Sermon on the Mount was the passage they read at their wedding. Nice
I heard someone that knew Kamala well say she sees the world as having two kinds of people, those that follow the rules and those that don’t. I liked that.
Had to cut ties with the church (many many many reason) but one of the most eye opening one was “even god said a country needs borders” I choked on my muffin and never went back
WE FACE DEATH IN ALL FORMS: bombs, hunger, and lack of medicine💔
I’ve been struggling for a week to find flour for my family, but it’s scarce and now costs $150 per bag😔
Support. I think it’s really confusing for a lot of us who were like “okay, treat people decently. Everyone deserves respect. The goal is society is to look out for the people in it”. And then to find out that these were aspirational goals they taught us, not practiced ones.
My parents taught me to think critically and to care about other people and left me alone with a shelf full of Pratchett novels, what did they think would happen?
The 'American Dream' and caring about other people seem to be two things that are quite difficult to reconcile. When you are encouraged to do everything you can to get ahead, to earn your millions, provide for your family, you'll stamp on anyone to get there because this is your 'right'
Yes!!! It’s funny. I went to a church school where they taught Bible. Emphasized “love thy neighbor”, but now many of my fellow classmates and teachers are so MAGA insane. Doesn’t add up. Go figure.
“Radical” just means a thing that affects the fundamental nature of something, so it can apply to positive or negative things. Unfortunately a lot of people use it to mean “extremist”. I think skateboarders were probably going for something like “that was so cool it changed my world” 😉
Yep. And, though I’m agnostic, I once learned about a poor brown man who told people to feed the hungry, clothe the poor, care for the sick, eschew wealth, and not make a big show of praying in public. His name was Jesus Christ but he doesn’t sound like someone “Xian Patriots” would like very much.
It's wild, when you think about it. All you hear growing up is propaganda about how America is all about freedom and diversity and equality.
Then you grow up and realize not only is that not true, but that a significant portion of the population don't even WANT freedom, equality, diversity, etc.
Literally that and I grew up being told “love thy neighbor” and the proceeded to watch the same people preaching that be pieces of shit so I said “no no YOU GUYS ARE THE ASSHOLES HERE!”
It's so wild me to me that this thing that I have always took as common sense is just not something that crosses people's minds. It's really one of those things that makes me feel like I live in a different world.
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No luck on that last bit, but even as dense as I am, I can see the lack of wiggle room in "for all".
“Some of them want to abuse you. Some of them want to be abused.”
I see now that this is not true.
Lie, defraud, bully, and hang out with others who do the same.
“If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth.”
Roberto Clemente
So, I guess basic empathy
But when Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders painted an obvious answer to why the government doesn't do enough to help or why we're not progressing due to corporate influence. It all started to click. I wanted my politicians who actually ran to help people not make money.
Follow me for more parenting tips. 😜
Too many people play prisoner's dilemma all day long, expecting to be screwed over so try to do the screwing first.
It must be exhausting
✨✨✨
I don’t even know who she is.
Now I try to love people, help whomever I can, and find any unconscious bias/bigotry left to remove so my children won’t have to.
Never thought of it as radical.
Did not want to experience how he was expected to be treated (since he didn't realize he was any if these things - he was "normal" in his mind)
Spite against anything that isn’t MAGA nationalist adjacent. Supporting every group they’re against is my mandate against fascism.
They've grown to be principled progressives.
Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.
Sesame Street.
Reading Rainbow.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.
Captain Planet.
Bill Nye The Science Guy.
(It’s literally in their name FFS)
I got into "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic" at a time in my life when I really needed it.
https://youtu.be/ImsTS1Kb9ww?si=YmTw0qdwQHH7v2Ob
It's my favorite tribute to "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic".
Spoiler warning if you haven't seen the whole show, esp the last two seasons.
https://youtu.be/rfYr8LjSa6U?si=7KgfvCXJJgyNPcnB
Turns out I wasn't supposed to *actually* do that, but that's not my problem.
But I try, and when I fail; I do my best to learn from my failure, make amends, and do better moving forward.
https://youtu.be/lCNPNs1pKoQ?si=y2EQJ6RX7g3JE_cX
There is a lot of healing from PTSD that needs to happen. So much anger and hatred effects people, it's not normal to be exposed to that for so long.
We got it in school. We got it on PBS. It was literally EVERYWHERE.
Others take fifty years to get it about 10% of the way there
I didn’t want anyone else to feel like I did, so I always try to be kind to people and make them feel loved 🥹
...I'm gonna keep that typo.
Radicalized is taking more aggressive action against people that don't follow that.
Enlightened
People MAKE the most important resources we need. They aren't as limited as some would have us believe.
Trully deplorable.
Sending corporate greed vibes 🙏🙏🙏
Feminism is political, social, and economic equality for women.
Equality.
The most radical all in interpretation of feminism is equal. Usually asking them what rights of women they would like to infringe on ends that chat quickly.
I not only want my wife to be my equal, I need her to be. Sometimes I need her to step up and be stronger and better than me, and she always has. She's my rock.
And as the father of a daughter - how could I want anything other than success and equality for her?
Citizenship
Fairness
Kindness
Respect
Responsibility
Trustworthiness
I think Kindness was a late add.
I’ve been struggling for a week to find flour for my family, but it’s scarce and now costs $150 per bag😔
Help as much as you can Please🙏
donate and RT🫂
https://chuffed.org/project/115127-help-abdalla-and-his-family-escape-from-gaza
“And when do you show them how to cheat other people, and hate people from other countries?”
Then you grow up and realize not only is that not true, but that a significant portion of the population don't even WANT freedom, equality, diversity, etc.