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Why My Friend "S." Is A Republican

PureX

Veteran Member
I have a good friend of many years who is a classic, angry, social-Darwinist, capitalism is the only way and let the loser scum rot-type republican, and he has been all his life. He voted for Trump knowing full well that the guy was the worst presidential candidate, ever. And if my friend had lived in Alabama, he would have voted for the pedophile candidate, too. I've come across several friends over the years that adhere to this same pattern of cult-like republicanism, and I've always wondered why they do. And I think I've finally figured it out.

It turns out it has nothing to do with smaller government or fiscal responsibility. Nor even a strong national defense or stance against crime. What it's about is his childhood, and the view of the world he holds as a result of it.

My friend's father was a violent, verbally and physically abusive prick. And he inflicted his abuse on his family whenever and however he wanted throughout my friend's childhood and long into his adult life. His mother (a saint, according to my friend) did nothing to stop it. In fact, from what I gather all she really did was make excuses for her piece of **** husband. But somehow, this made her a candidate for sainthood in my friend's mind.

My friend was also sexually molested by the family priest, and then sexually assaulted by an older cousin. And in neither of these instances did anyone do anything to acknowledge or stop it. Saint mom loved the family priest and could see no wrong regarding him. And the cousin was from his father's side (a whole family of violent, abusive, pricks), so clearly there was no help or ally to be found, there.

So my friend grew up in a world where those with power and position did whatever they wanted to those without it. And those who talked about brotherly love, and equal justice, and being our brother's keeper were either deluded fools, or wolves pretending to be shepherds. And as he got older, he discovered that nowhere is this more true than in business. Those who've got the money, rule, and those who want the money better learn to serve those who've got it, or be crushed for their stupidity.

Which explains why my friend worked in brokerage houses all his life, helping rich people get richer and investing his own money on their coattails. And it's why he always votes republican, regardless of how morally bankrupt, or logically insane the candidates might be. Because in my friend's view of the world, he has to serve the wealthy and powerful or risk being destroyed by them. Because whatever they are, they can do as they please, to the rest of us. And if he wants to survive and thrive in this world, he has to do so by being their "yes-man", and by riding their insane, greedy, coattails.

My friend is a very angry man living in a viciously unfair world. A man who sees 'do-gooders' as liars and fools. His philosophy on life is basically Darwinian. And Darwin did not discover any moral, or even logical paths to life-success. He discovered that the strong eat the weak, take what they want, and they always have and always will. That's what my friend experienced growing up, and what he sees, now, all around him. This is the world he lives in.

And it's why he votes for liars, and criminals, and lunatics, and anyone else who has money and power, or that serves money and power. Because in my friends view of the world, money and power rules everything. Morality, and justice, and all that ideological swill are just pretty fantasies used to distract us while the powerful take what they want, and do with us as they please.

I'm just sayin' ...
 
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Enoch07

It's all a sick freaking joke.
Premium Member
And it's why he votes for liars, and criminals, and lunatics, and anyone else who has money and power, or that serves money and power. Because in my friends view of the world, money and power rules everything. Morality, and justice, and all that ideological swill are just pretty fantasies used to distract us while the powerful take what they want, and do with us as they please.

I'm just sayin' ...

Versus hard line democrats that vote for crazy, liar, pedo, sexist, and racist Democratic candidates who only serve money/power/themselves. Al Franken, Hillary Clinton, Charlie Rangel, Burnie Sanders, Anthony Weiner are just a few examples.

Dems are just as guilty as Repubs in this regard. Confronted daily by the corruption within their own parties and continually turning a blind eye to it, just to point the finger across the isle and blame the other side.

Hypocrites the whole lot!
 

columbus

yawn <ignore> yawn
Morality, and justice, and all that ideological swill are just pretty fantasies used to distract us while the powerful take what they want, and do with us as they please.

I'm just sayin' ...

Oh him. Count your blessings. I am related to him (by marriage).

He's also very Christian, the old school and Old Testament type.

Stop reminding me of him. The Holidays are over, thank you very much.

Tom
 

David T

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I have a good friend of many years who is a classic, angry, social-Darwinist, capitalism is the only way and let the loser scum rot-type republican, and he has been all his life. He voted for Trump knowing full well that the guy was the worst presidential candidate, ever. And if my friend had lived in Alabama, he would have voted for the pedophile candidate, too. I've come across several friends over the years that adhere to this same pattern of cult-like republicanism, and I've always wondered why they do. And I think I've finally figured it out.

It turns out it has nothing to do with smaller government or fiscal responsibility. Nor even a strong national defense or stance against crime. What it's about is his childhood, and the view of the world he holds as a result of it.

My friend's father was a violent, verbally and physically abusive prick. And he inflicted his abuse on his family whenever and however he wanted throughout my friend's childhood and long into his adult life. His mother (a saint, according to my friend) did nothing to stop it. In fact, from what I gather all she really did was make excuses for her piece of **** husband. But somehow, this made her a candidate for sainthood in my friend's mind.

My friend was also sexually molested by the family priest, and then sexually assaulted by an older cousin. And in neither of these instances did anyone do anything to acknowledge or stop it. Saint mom loved the family priest and could see no wrong regarding him. And the cousin was from his father's side (a whole family of violent, abusive, pricks), so clearly there was no help or ally to be found, there.

So my friend grew up in a world where those with power and position did whatever they wanted to those without it. And those who talked about brotherly love, and equal justice, and being our brother's keeper were either deluded fools, or wolves pretending to be shepherds. And as he got older, he discovered that nowhere is this more true than in business. Those who've got the money, rule, and those who want the money better learn to serve those who've got it, or be crushed for their stupidity.

Which explains why my friend worked in brokerage houses all his life, helping rich people get richer and investing his own money on their coattails. And it's why he always votes republican, regardless of how morally bankrupt, or logically insane the candidates might be. Because in my friend's view of the world, he has to serve the wealthy and powerful or risk being destroyed by them. Because whatever they are, they can do as they please, to the rest of us. And if he wants to survive and thrive in this world, he has to do so by being their "yes-man", and by riding their insane, greedy, coattails.

My friend is a very angry man living in a viciously unfair world. A man who sees 'do-gooders' as liars and fools. His philosophy on life is basically Darwinian. And Darwin did not discover any moral, or even logical paths to life-success. He discovered that the strong eat the weak, take what they want, and they always have and always will. That's what my friend experienced growing up, and what he sees, now, all around him. This is the world he lives in.

And it's why he votes for liars, and criminals, and lunatics, and anyone else who has money and power, or that serves money and power. Because in my friends view of the world, money and power rules everything. Morality, and justice, and all that ideological swill are just pretty fantasies used to distract us while the powerful take what they want, and do with us as they please.

I'm just sayin' ...
He seems very normal!!!
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
Versus hard line democrats that vote for crazy, liar, pedo, sexist, and racist Democratic candidates who only serve money/power/themselves. Al Franken, Hillary Clinton, Charlie Rangel, Burnie Sanders, Anthony Weiner are just a few examples.

Dems are just as guilty as Repubs in this regard. Confronted daily by the corruption within their own parties and continually turning a blind eye to it, just to point the finger across the isle and blame the other side.

Hypocrites the whole lot!
Right wing lies about Hillary Clinton. The left is getting rid of those who abuse women. The right is celebrating them including that pile of s**t donny. The right adores and honors those who lie, cheat, steal and abuse women. The right is the group full of crazy alt-righters, liars, pedo, sexist, racist and totally full of s**t people misguided by the evil plutocrats and kleptocrats and their lying propaganda outlets, Fox, Breitbart and the rest.
 

Mindmaster

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I have a good friend of many years who is a classic, angry, social-Darwinist, capitalism is the only way and let the loser scum rot-type republican, and he has been all his life. He voted for Trump knowing full well that the guy was the worst presidential candidate, ever. And if my friend had lived in Alabama, he would have voted for the pedophile candidate, too. I've come across several friends over the years that adhere to this same pattern of cult-like republicanism, and I've always wondered why they do. And I think I've finally figured it out.

I don't think you have, lol.

Survival of the fittest, aka Darwinism is the law of nature - whether you decide to ignore it, or convince yourself that it's not something you believe is irrelevant. It's also irrelevant whether you find it cruel, or that someone aware of it is objectionable is also irrelevant. Nature doesn't care what you think, basically. What people often perceive as cruelty is really the evolution of the socio-economic climate, and themselves, making poor choices, being on the wrong side of how things shake out. Is the fault on people acting in a natural way, or yourself being on the non-profitable side of the equation? It's so much easier to blame someone else... "Rich guy" "White guy", whatever... it's all diversionary... to avoid taking personal responsibility...

The Republican party has been swinging just right of center for years, a position that years back Democrats themselves were moving toward but have since forsaken. Now they're just so far left that emotions and identity matter more than reality. My family is life long Dems, and I never voted before I voted for Trump, but I simply didn't have a choice. It was Hillary and everything I knew wrong about her versus someone who's only crimes were in the minds of the dejected bleeding heart leftists. There really wasn't a choice... One person had a platform, the other decided to be Queen and thought her cult would make her a shoe in. Can't say I respect that at all... Personally, I'm just a Libertarian - extremely center, and anti-authoritarian... Nothing the Dems could say would make me vote for them presently, because they just go completely against my ideals. I don't agree with the "Republican Party" on everything, but I do not see them as subversive or anti-freedom.

Needless to say, you came to the right forum... I'm sure there will be about 20 posts of anti-Trump whining playing up to the liberal confirmation bias that infects the forum, and nothing makes the extreme left happier than a good cry together. :D
 

Father Heathen

Veteran Member
Versus hard line democrats that vote for crazy, liar, pedo, sexist, and racist Democratic candidates who only serve money/power/themselves. Al Franken, Hillary Clinton, Charlie Rangel, Burnie Sanders, Anthony Weiner are just a few examples.

Dems are just as guilty as Repubs in this regard. Confronted daily by the corruption within their own parties and continually turning a blind eye to it, just to point the finger across the isle and blame the other side.

Hypocrites the whole lot!

While many on both sides do this, those on the right seem to do so in greater proportion. It's one thing to vote for "the lesser evil", but to uncritically idolize a politician is beyond foolish, regardless of their party.
 

suncowiam

Well-Known Member
I have a good friend of many years who is a classic, angry, social-Darwinist, capitalism is the only way and let the loser scum rot-type republican, and he has been all his life. He voted for Trump knowing full well that the guy was the worst presidential candidate, ever. And if my friend had lived in Alabama, he would have voted for the pedophile candidate, too. I've come across several friends over the years that adhere to this same pattern of cult-like republicanism, and I've always wondered why they do. And I think I've finally figured it out.

It turns out it has nothing to do with smaller government or fiscal responsibility. Nor even a strong national defense or stance against crime. What it's about is his childhood, and the view of the world he holds as a result of it.

My friend's father was a violent, verbally and physically abusive prick. And he inflicted his abuse on his family whenever and however he wanted throughout my friend's childhood and long into his adult life. His mother (a saint, according to my friend) did nothing to stop it. In fact, from what I gather all she really did was make excuses for her piece of **** husband. But somehow, this made her a candidate for sainthood in my friend's mind.

My friend was also sexually molested by the family priest, and then sexually assaulted by an older cousin. And in neither of these instances did anyone do anything to acknowledge or stop it. Saint mom loved the family priest and could see no wrong regarding him. And the cousin was from his father's side (a whole family of violent, abusive, pricks), so clearly there was no help or ally to be found, there.

So my friend grew up in a world where those with power and position did whatever they wanted to those without it. And those who talked about brotherly love, and equal justice, and being our brother's keeper were either deluded fools, or wolves pretending to be shepherds. And as he got older, he discovered that nowhere is this more true than in business. Those who've got the money, rule, and those who want the money better learn to serve those who've got it, or be crushed for their stupidity.

Which explains why my friend worked in brokerage houses all his life, helping rich people get richer and investing his own money on their coattails. And it's why he always votes republican, regardless of how morally bankrupt, or logically insane the candidates might be. Because in my friend's view of the world, he has to serve the wealthy and powerful or risk being destroyed by them. Because whatever they are, they can do as they please, to the rest of us. And if he wants to survive and thrive in this world, he has to do so by being their "yes-man", and by riding their insane, greedy, coattails.

My friend is a very angry man living in a viciously unfair world. A man who sees 'do-gooders' as liars and fools. His philosophy on life is basically Darwinian. And Darwin did not discover any moral, or even logical paths to life-success. He discovered that the strong eat the weak, take what they want, and they always have and always will. That's what my friend experienced growing up, and what he sees, now, all around him. This is the world he lives in.

And it's why he votes for liars, and criminals, and lunatics, and anyone else who has money and power, or that serves money and power. Because in my friends view of the world, money and power rules everything. Morality, and justice, and all that ideological swill are just pretty fantasies used to distract us while the powerful take what they want, and do with us as they please.

I'm just sayin' ...

I lean to the left, consistently vote left, live in California but even I know this is generalization.

Your friend has some bad luck. I think he needs a better support system.

Just sayin'.
 

Father Heathen

Veteran Member
I'm just a Libertarian

Except when it comes to the pricey big gov witch hunt over a plant.

my ideals. I don't agree with the "Republican Party" on everything, but I do not see them as subversive or anti-freedom.

Except for when it comes to gay marriage, "sodomy", reproductive choice, gambling/gaming, cannabis, adult entertainment, alcohol sales ("dry counties"/"blue laws", etc.), evolution in schools, and a slew of other things that many republicans have sought to prohibit or keep prohibited over the years.
 

Enoch07

It's all a sick freaking joke.
Premium Member
Right wing lies about Hillary Clinton. The left is getting rid of those who abuse women. The right is celebrating them including that pile of s**t donny. The right adores and honors those who lie, cheat, steal and abuse women. The right is the group full of crazy alt-righters, liars, pedo, sexist, racist and totally full of s**t people misguided by the evil plutocrats and kleptocrats and their lying propaganda outlets, Fox, Breitbart and the rest.

So does the left. They just turn a blind eye to it. Just as you are doing now.
 

Enoch07

It's all a sick freaking joke.
Premium Member
While many on both sides do this, those on the right seem to do so in greater proportion. It's one thing to vote for "the lesser evil", but to uncritically idolize a politician is beyond foolish, regardless of their party.

Looks about even to me. I have no dog in that fight. Regardless, the loser in the situation is the American people. Maybe one day both sides will wake up and realize they are being played for fools by their own politicians.
 

Mindmaster

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Except when it comes to the pricey big gov witch hunt over a plant.


Except for when it comes to gay marriage, "sodomy", reproductive choice, gambling/gaming, cannabis, adult entertainment, alcohol sales ("dry counties"/"blue laws", etc.), evolution in schools, and a slew of other things that many republicans have sought to prohibit or keep prohibited over the years.

Argument #1 is not an argument, but I find it amusing. Even if it was true, it'd be a genetic argument simply arguing that who it is from (me) makes it invalid. Weak adhominem = logic fail. You say you are against witch hunts, but hunt the witches yourself. :D I just feel you have no right to drugs of any kind, and I don't consider that issue large enough to be an obstacle to fix other real problems in the country. If Trump's people want to go after dopers, but give me 90% of what I want otherwise, I'll worry about that later because it's more important that critical problems are addressed first.

Argument #2, is just off topic. :D Sorry, not taking the bait. Secondly, factually it is wrong. Dry counties were created by Democrats, Republicans didn't gain footing in these areas until the 1950's and later when the Dems started injecting progressiveness into every campaign and offending the people whom admired traditional values. Before that, the Dixiecrats held the roost and were extremely conservative... But, who needs history right? Next up you'll tell me all the racists are in the Republican Party, you know, the one that freed the slaves. Pfft.
 

Sapiens

Polymathematician
Argument #1 is not an argument, but I find it amusing. Even if it was true, it'd be a genetic argument simply arguing that who it is from (me) makes it invalid. Weak adhominem = logic fail. You say you are against witch hunts, but hunt the witches yourself. :D I just feel you have no right to drugs of any kind, and I don't consider that issue large enough to be an obstacle to fix other real problems in the country. If Trump's people want to go after dopers, but give me 90% of what I want otherwise, I'll worry about that later because it's more important that critical problems are addressed first.

Argument #2, is just off topic. :D Sorry, not taking the bait. Secondly, factually it is wrong. Dry counties were created by Democrats, Republicans didn't gain footing in these areas until the 1950's and later when the Dems started injecting progressiveness into every campaign and offending the people whom admired traditional values. Before that, the Dixiecrats held the roost and were extremely conservative... But, who needs history right? Next up you'll tell me all the racists are in the Republican Party, you know, the one that freed the slaves. Pfft.
You have an amazing way of ignoring the fact that all the Dixiecrats became Republicans back during the Nixon administration. Lincoln, today, would never have been a Republican and if it were 1860, all of those I know who are today Democrats would also be Republicans.
 

Father Heathen

Veteran Member
Argument #1 is not an argument, but I find it amusing. Even if it was true, it'd be a genetic argument simply arguing that who it is from (me) makes it invalid. Weak adhominem = logic fail. You say you are against witch hunts, but hunt the witches yourself. :D I just feel you have no right to drugs of any kind, and I don't consider that issue large enough to be an obstacle to fix other real problems in the country. If Trump's people want to go after dopers, but give me 90% of what I want otherwise, I'll worry about that later because it's more important that critical problems are addressed first.
Not sure how pointing out glaring inconsistencies and hypocrisy is "hunting the witches", and when you say "drugs of any kind", I'm going to assume that you're including alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine, unless this is yet another thing that you're inconsistent/hypocritical about.
Also, about 80 billion in tax dollars is spent each year on "the war on drugs." That's about half on what is spent on public education. I would say that such a huge waste of tax dollars is indeed a real problem. Also, pursuing people over victimless crimes runs contrary to the ideal of liberty.

So if you're going to identify as a libertarian, at least have an actual understanding of their platform.

Argument #2, is just off topic. :D Sorry, not taking the bait.

How is it "off topic"? You made a statement. I corrected it.

Secondly, factually it is wrong. Dry counties were created by Democrats, Republicans didn't gain footing in these areas until the 1950's and later when the Dems started injecting progressiveness into every campaign and offending the people whom admired traditional values. Before that, the Dixiecrats held the roost and were extremely conservative... But, who needs history right? Next up you'll tell me all the racists are in the Republican Party, you know, the one that freed the slaves. Pfft.
I'm very aware of history. I'm also aware that the parties were drastically different 50 - 150 years ago compared to what they are today. I'm obviously talking about what republicans have supported in recent years.
 
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Mindmaster

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
You have an amazing way of ignoring the fact that all the Dixiecrats became Republicans back during the Nixon administration. Lincoln, today, would never have been a Republican and if it were 1860, all of those I know who are today Democrats would also be Republicans.

Please provide a list of Democrats that defected to the Republican party over this issue, because I personally am only aware of only one. That sounds like an anomaly rather than a pattern, Democrats propagate this lie ad nauseum, but it is a lie. The past context of the Republican Party is also irrelevant in now that it is taking a largely center-right disposition because it is courting those voters that the Dems and the Libertarian Party are disinterested in them - I doubt this pattern will change drastically because it is a winning strategy. The Republican Party of _now_ is basically under new management, with new ideas, and is far more tolerant than say twenty years ago. Thinking that there is some tie in is like drawing a line from slavery to the Democratic party and not paying attention to the 100+years since.

As far as who would be what now issues, we can play that game forever. It's just disingenuous to some degree to assert we'd have any freaking clue what they'd be into in a modern context. I prefer to instead simply respect their values in the context of their time, and worry about my own. :D
 

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
I have a good friend of many years who is a classic, angry, social-Darwinist, capitalism is the only way and let the loser scum rot-type republican, and he has been all his life. He voted for Trump knowing full well that the guy was the worst presidential candidate, ever. And if my friend had lived in Alabama, he would have voted for the pedophile candidate, too. I've come across several friends over the years that adhere to this same pattern of cult-like republicanism, and I've always wondered why they do. And I think I've finally figured it out.

It turns out it has nothing to do with smaller government or fiscal responsibility. Nor even a strong national defense or stance against crime. What it's about is his childhood, and the view of the world he holds as a result of it.

My friend's father was a violent, verbally and physically abusive prick. And he inflicted his abuse on his family whenever and however he wanted throughout my friend's childhood and long into his adult life. His mother (a saint, according to my friend) did nothing to stop it. In fact, from what I gather all she really did was make excuses for her piece of **** husband. But somehow, this made her a candidate for sainthood in my friend's mind.

My friend was also sexually molested by the family priest, and then sexually assaulted by an older cousin. And in neither of these instances did anyone do anything to acknowledge or stop it. Saint mom loved the family priest and could see no wrong regarding him. And the cousin was from his father's side (a whole family of violent, abusive, pricks), so clearly there was no help or ally to be found, there.

So my friend grew up in a world where those with power and position did whatever they wanted to those without it. And those who talked about brotherly love, and equal justice, and being our brother's keeper were either deluded fools, or wolves pretending to be shepherds. And as he got older, he discovered that nowhere is this more true than in business. Those who've got the money, rule, and those who want the money better learn to serve those who've got it, or be crushed for their stupidity.

Which explains why my friend worked in brokerage houses all his life, helping rich people get richer and investing his own money on their coattails. And it's why he always votes republican, regardless of how morally bankrupt, or logically insane the candidates might be. Because in my friend's view of the world, he has to serve the wealthy and powerful or risk being destroyed by them. Because whatever they are, they can do as they please, to the rest of us. And if he wants to survive and thrive in this world, he has to do so by being their "yes-man", and by riding their insane, greedy, coattails.

My friend is a very angry man living in a viciously unfair world. A man who sees 'do-gooders' as liars and fools. His philosophy on life is basically Darwinian. And Darwin did not discover any moral, or even logical paths to life-success. He discovered that the strong eat the weak, take what they want, and they always have and always will. That's what my friend experienced growing up, and what he sees, now, all around him. This is the world he lives in.

And it's why he votes for liars, and criminals, and lunatics, and anyone else who has money and power, or that serves money and power. Because in my friends view of the world, money and power rules everything. Morality, and justice, and all that ideological swill are just pretty fantasies used to distract us while the powerful take what they want, and do with us as they please.

I'm just sayin' ...

My father was a Republican all his life, as was most of his side of the family. I don't think they were social Darwinists, though. Mainly, they were Bible Belt ultra conservatives from the upper Midwest, and they voted Republican for generations. They were very patriotic for America, believed in family values, self-reliance, strong work ethic. They were scrupulously honest country folk from farm country, although my father left the farm, went to college and became an engineer.

While I was a kid growing up, my father supported Nixon, and this was my first taste of politics, both Democrat and Republican. The dispute between the parties back then seemed more of a dispute over America's military and foreign policies, dominated by anti-communism. The Republicans seemed more moderate on economic issues, with Nixon being more of a Keynesian while his predecessor, Ike, also supported many of FDR's New Deal policies. It seemed that back in those days, Republicans were more sympathetic to those who worked hard for a living, while scoffing at those on welfare and others considered "bums" and those considered "troublemakers," "rabble rousers," "misfits," "hippies," etc.

But something changed when Reagan was elected, and that's when Republicans showed themselves more and more as ardent, overzealous capitalists and economic Darwinists that many of them are now. Reagan oversaw the transition from paleo-conservatism to neo-conservatism, while the liberals struggled to keep up, although they also transitioned from paleo-liberalism to neo-liberalism, which also sold out to the corporate types and other economic Darwinists of the current era. Both have alienated the working classes, and their only real difference is when it comes to social issues as a way of duping their rank-and-file into believing that there's actually a difference between the two parties nowadays.
 

Kuzcotopia

If you can read this, you are as lucky as I am.
I lean to the left, consistently vote left, live in California but even I know this is generalization.

Your friend has some bad luck. I think he needs a better support system.

Just sayin'.

Came here to say this. Also liberal as they come, but the life experience of a single individual doesn't mean one can make a generalization like this. Sorry to hear about the friend. . But using their experience to make a bad argument to generalize the entirely of a political party's members in a negative way is a very bad idea.

The OP can't even prove that there's a real correlation between your friend's life experiences and their politics. Now . . . (Surprise) the same old tired arguments for false equivalency and unsubstatiated generalizations of dems and liberals are now rearing their heads on this thread, the muddier the better.

And OP doesn't have a place to argue from because they started it in the first place.
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
I have a good friend of many years who is a classic, angry, social-Darwinist, capitalism is the only way and let the loser scum rot-type republican, and he has been all his life. He voted for Trump knowing full well that the guy was the worst presidential candidate, ever. And if my friend had lived in Alabama, he would have voted for the pedophile candidate, too. I've come across several friends over the years that adhere to this same pattern of cult-like republicanism, and I've always wondered why they do. And I think I've finally figured it out.

It turns out it has nothing to do with smaller government or fiscal responsibility. Nor even a strong national defense or stance against crime. What it's about is his childhood, and the view of the world he holds as a result of it.

My friend's father was a violent, verbally and physically abusive prick. And he inflicted his abuse on his family whenever and however he wanted throughout my friend's childhood and long into his adult life. His mother (a saint, according to my friend) did nothing to stop it. In fact, from what I gather all she really did was make excuses for her piece of **** husband. But somehow, this made her a candidate for sainthood in my friend's mind.

My friend was also sexually molested by the family priest, and then sexually assaulted by an older cousin. And in neither of these instances did anyone do anything to acknowledge or stop it. Saint mom loved the family priest and could see no wrong regarding him. And the cousin was from his father's side (a whole family of violent, abusive, pricks), so clearly there was no help or ally to be found, there.

So my friend grew up in a world where those with power and position did whatever they wanted to those without it. And those who talked about brotherly love, and equal justice, and being our brother's keeper were either deluded fools, or wolves pretending to be shepherds. And as he got older, he discovered that nowhere is this more true than in business. Those who've got the money, rule, and those who want the money better learn to serve those who've got it, or be crushed for their stupidity.

Which explains why my friend worked in brokerage houses all his life, helping rich people get richer and investing his own money on their coattails. And it's why he always votes republican, regardless of how morally bankrupt, or logically insane the candidates might be. Because in my friend's view of the world, he has to serve the wealthy and powerful or risk being destroyed by them. Because whatever they are, they can do as they please, to the rest of us. And if he wants to survive and thrive in this world, he has to do so by being their "yes-man", and by riding their insane, greedy, coattails.

My friend is a very angry man living in a viciously unfair world. A man who sees 'do-gooders' as liars and fools. His philosophy on life is basically Darwinian. And Darwin did not discover any moral, or even logical paths to life-success. He discovered that the strong eat the weak, take what they want, and they always have and always will. That's what my friend experienced growing up, and what he sees, now, all around him. This is the world he lives in.

And it's why he votes for liars, and criminals, and lunatics, and anyone else who has money and power, or that serves money and power. Because in my friends view of the world, money and power rules everything. Morality, and justice, and all that ideological swill are just pretty fantasies used to distract us while the powerful take what they want, and do with us as they please.

I'm just sayin' ...

Actually, PureX, I've noticed the same pattern. While I wouldn't say every rabid conservative had a similar background to your friend, nor say that anyone with a similar background will become a rabid conservative, I have noticed over the years that there seems to be a greater chance that someone who is a rabid conservative suffered childhood abuse than is usually the case.

Indeed, it is well known that people who have been abused as children tend to either go on to be abused as adults or become abusers themselves. Perhaps such people also tend to hold rabidly conservative political an social views - which, if you think about it, are views that frequently amount to justifications for why certain people and certain groups of people "deserve" to be mistreated by society, the government, etc.

Again, while I don't think all conservative politics is rooted in childhood abuse, it seems reasonable that some might very well be.
 
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