I saw a comment a couple of days ago that caught my attention. It was in a Community Spotlight diary by Steve Ehresman, perhaps the longest diary I have ever seen on Daily Kos. I thought it was good, but … I had to get back to life before finishing. The comment in question (out of recommendability, but you can still comment if you like) was written by sharonsylvie, and I am linking it because I think it is a fine comment, and I have no criticism about her perspective or her opinion. Very possibly it is perfectly correct for her, and it is her right to decide, and it doesn’t reflect badly on her at all.
Thank you for this essay. It reinforces my desire not to live in a red state for I would surely go mad.
It got a pushback comment from someone who lives in a red state, like me, but it wasn’t very nice. I did not reply to her in the thread, but I am doing that tonight in this diary.
More below.
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Living in a red state, for committed Democrats, can indeed be hard. Conversation can be a challenge, because direct confrontation just doesn’t make friends and positively influence people. Yet I am deeply, deeply, deeply invested in doing just that, making friends AND influencing people in progressive ways. It requires faith in seeds.
I’d be the first to admit that seeds are slow, seeds try the patience. It would be nice if we could have scored debates and people would have to accept, validate and vote in accordance with debate results, but that isn’t how it is in the real world. You can’t win votes by beating people over the head, you can’t win them by getting in their face, by shoving it down their throats. I understand that some get gratification from that, but the question becomes, do you care about the results, or about tiny personal victories that actually push change much further out in the future with anger and resentment? Of course, I am not so young anymore, so such alternatives are not nearly as problematic as they once were, when I was … more intensely under the influence of youthful hormones. I know from many years experience that seeds do find purchase, given the chance, given the right nurturance, and they can bear the fruit we most wish to see.
My red state is backward in many ways. There is no question that it can be hard, that it can be painful. But are there no hard times in blue states? No pain? Those things are everywhere, in different measure. I have been blessed with the strength and the fortitude to make the fight in red areas. Indeed, except for a year when I lived in Germany, I have lived in red places all of my life. I am at peace with the truth that it isn’t for everyone. It doesn’t reflect badly on that commenter, above, that life in a red state would not be for her.
Were she to visit, I’d love to show her much of the brilliance I see here, even so. Without trying to convince her to move here. Just because it’s real, even if hard to imagine, seen from the outside.
Thank you for reading tonight. On to the comments, formatted by brillig! A fine friend from a comparatively blue state!
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From ericlewis0:
So many funny comments in Mark Sumner's diary about a possible ET radio signal from a planet 95 light years away. But my favorite is from Crashing Vor.
From allergywoman:
This comment by YellowDogInGA exemplifies exactly how I feel this election season, too.
Highlighted by Wee Mama:
Is this comment by AKALib, on the miserable priorities of that ‘other’ party.
Top Mojo for yesterday, August 28th 2016, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
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Top Pictures for yesterday, August 28th 2016. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment. Thank you jotter!