Monday, April 30, 2012

Left--Right, and the Way We Believe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYNukv5rWCY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIgyN0slhC4&feature=related


   I know this may be hard to believe but democrats and republicans in Congress sometimes have opposing viewpoints.  Not only that, they often have differences in opinion as well.
   Sometimes they disagree on vital issues that affect the nation.
   Sometimes they even bicker.
   Here is Speaker of the House John Boehner demonstrating my keen observation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv6Knst6Rp0
   And here is one of many democratic responses:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0hC0T_fHlU
   Maybe we should vote all of the men out of Congress, and the world might be a better, more sane place with women in charge. They certainly couldn't do any worse then men have.
   But then again, gender doesn't guarantee anything. I remind myself of Margaret Thatcher, the British Reagan.
   And then I shudder.
   However, the two sides clearly view women's rights differently. Republican Congressmen like Boehner and Sen. McCain from Arizona vehemently deny there is a republican war on women, as does the Republican Noise Machine, the folks at Fox so-called News and Rush Limbaugh, etc.. Yet the actions in Congress to restrict reproductive services for woman through agencies like Planned Parenthood, and the actions of 37 state legislatures controlled by republicans that are doing the same and worse, are undeniable and thoroughly documented (yes, we have things called records and video tape). Even Mr. Boehner in his passionate statement above, is passing an amendment to keep interest rates on student loans at 3.4% (which would have increased soon to 6.8 if no action is taken) by paying for it by raiding funds from the Obama health care initiative set to help women through preventive care, rather than close a tax loophole as the democrats would have, and thereby attacking women's health care at the same time he is denying republicans are attacking women's health care.
   And while he's on a roll, he blames democrats for... well everything.
   I've postulated previously that 6 percent of the general population is sociopathic, here:
http://joycestake.blogspot.com/2009/10/psycho.html
http://joycestake.blogspot.com/2009/10/psycho-2.html
Considering this, at least as far as the republican leadership is concerned (Boehner, Mitch McConnell, Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, John McCain and his teammate, Jon Kyl, Darrell Issa... gee, I'm having trouble stopping), consistently display symptoms of psychopathology.
   To be kind, which is a trait of a psychologically fit individual, I believe these gentlemen are ill, and that they actually believe the lies that seem to flow from their mouths as freely as water from a tap, lies that drive their agenda which is to constantly protect the richest amongst us from increased taxation, funnel as much money to large corporations as possible, use war for political expediency, and a myriad of other transgressions that hurt women, the poor, blacks, Hispanics, the elderly, and anybody else who isn't already rich.
   They can't help their actions. Rep Paul Ryan's defense of his  budget to Catholic bishops is a clear example:
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/26/ryan-defends-budget-in-face-of-catholic-critics/
   Rep. Ryan would have us believe that his budget proposal actually helps the poor in America by defunding the food stamp program and others that were specifically designed to help the poor during times of national distress (distress which the republicans caused by the way (recession)). And he can't see any problems with giving more tax breaks to the richest 10% in the country while strangling our most vulnerable.
   He is always right, according to him, no one can tell him otherwise, and he blames everyone but himself and his colleagues, for everything that is not in accordance with his world view.
   He is clearly insane... or a true sociopath. He will smile at you and praise Christian values while slowly turning the knife in your back.
   But not all conservatives are sociopaths... and some democrats are.
   I have a lot of family friends who reside, or have resided in southern states, like Alabama. They tend to have a very different political and religious views than I do, even though I live just two degrees of latitude north of Montgomery. I see and read their comments on Facebook often. Some like to write about their religious convictions, and some their political. Many label themselves as being conservative.
   Some don't like President Obama at all, and aren't shy about saying so.
   I do not usually engage in debate with my friends, at lest not publicly (although once in a while one of them will write something so outrageous that I am forced to respond and set them straight. They are usually tolerant of my liberal, Hollywood, outbursts). Why? Because I have come to recognize that these two particular subjects, religion and politics, are the two subjects most people are most adamant about, and least likely to ever alter their viewpoint or ever concede that they may be wrong. As far as these two subjects are concerned people will believe what they believe no matter what. It usually takes some hugely traumatic event in their lives to get them to amend these views, when logic and every shred of evidence suggests that they held an erroneous worldview, and should have done so long before.
   So I never try to challenge them. I get it. People like to think they are going to heaven when they die. It doesn't hurt me if they believe that. Only when they try to inject their views onto me and others forcibly, as the republicans are doing now with woman's rights, do I have a problem. Only when fanatics try to revise history in schools and indoctrinate their ideas of reality to our children (brainwash), do I have a problem. Only when they equate theology with science, as the creationists are constantly attempting, do I have a problem.
   Let's examine these differences in personalities. Maybe we'll come up with some answers that allow us to understand each other a bit more.
   You see that silhouette of a dancing lady above. I was hard pressed to find a copy that wasn't twirling around.
   You can find this image on the Internet easily. Why here's a link right now:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/right-brain-v-left-brain/story-e6frf7jo-1111114603615
   It is said that if you see the lady dancing in a clockwise fashion, then you tend to utilize the right hemisphere of your brain more than the left, and visa versa, if you see it twirling in a counterclockwise fashion you use the left hemisphere more.
   And it is said that if you use the right hemisphere more you tend to possess these personal characteristics:

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses feeling                                 
"big picture" oriented                  
imagination rules                         
symbols and images                    
present and future                         
philosophy & religion                   
can "get it" (i.e. meaning)                
believes                                          
appreciates                                    
spatial perception                            
knows object function                     
fantasy based                                   
presents possibilities                      
impetuous                                        
risk taking    
                                   
And the left:

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic
detail oriented
facts rule
words and language
present and past
math and science
can comprehend
knowing
acknowledges
order/pattern perception
knows object name
reality based
forms strategies
practical
safe

   Which one am I you ask? Well after initially seeing the dancing figure flipping head over heels, I slapped myself a couple of times, and now realize I'm a Lefty all the way.
   Was there ever any doubt?
   What does this tell us about the differences between the republican mind set and that of democrats?
   Not much.
   It does present an interesting case in that the majority of people can be separated into two broad categories, which if you use Congress as a microcosm of the general population, represents a rather accurate picture of the world.
   Let's examine briefly here the seeming difference between the two patterns of behavior associated with the right and left side of the brain.

To be continued:

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