I used to believe if we just presented the facts with enough clarity, we could make conservatives understand why they were wrong. Once they understood that what they were doing was wrong, I thought, they would stop what they were doing.
It was just a matter of explaining to them that what they believed was not in fact true. Show them that LGBT people aren't dangerous predators. Explain to them that no one has an abortion at 40 weeks just so they can fit into a prom dress. Give them the data to show that the "war on drugs," far from stopping drug abuse, is making the use of illegal drugs more common and more dangerous. Explain to them what a legitimate source is, and why Fox News and Steven Crowder and the Daily Mail are not legitimate sources.
Surely, once they understand, once they see that they're being lied to, once they know they're being conned, surely they will stop....
No. They won't. They are perfectly aware that they're being told lies. They like those lies. They don't even actually believe the lies. They just like the social and economic and psychological benefits they get from pretending those lies are true.
This is why arguing with conservatives does no good. They already *know* we're right. They already *know* what they're claiming is true is pure bullshit. They just don't care.
For someone who has staked her life on education, evidence-based knowledge, and the belief that people will do what is right if they know what the right thing to do is, this is a pretty depressing realization.
2 comments:
I saw this tweet and thought of you.
Often, in many cases, such as the "war on drugs" example, the truth is counterintuitive. I had a health teacher in high school say, "Alcohol is legal, and marijuana isn't. More people consume alcohol than marijuana. Therefore making drugs legal means more people will use them, and the problem will get worse."
Now, I had a book called "Time Capsule 1929." It was just snippets of articles from Time magazine, published in 1929 -- in other words, during Prohibition. Marijuana was legal in most of the United States then. There were still more people consuming alcohol than marijuana. I don't recall mentions of marijuana in that book; if they were, they were greatly outnumbered by articles on alcohol.
I showed that book to my teacher. It did not change her mind.
OMG, that tweet.
It and your teacher -- prime examples of why I'm feeling hopeless these days.
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