The Personal and Global Aspects of Personality

[u/Live_Car_2856]

Many people have a disconnect between how they treat people and how they vote. There are very nice people who treat people with respect and decency, while voting for policies that hurt people. And there are assholes who vote for policies that help poor people and children and the elderly and animals.

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[u/Live_Car_2856]

I think there are nice people who haven't thought through things carefully and diligently, but they think they have. And I think there are people who have thought through things carefully and diligently, but haven't looked in the mirror.

[u/Onyx_Lat]

I have a friend whose political views are completely opposite from mine. He's a decent guy who wants the world to be a better place, otherwise I wouldn't be friends with him. But he genuinely doesn't see how the policies he advocates hurt people, and thinks the people he supports will be helpful. He thinks the policies I support hurt people and take away their freedoms, but he can't see how the policies he supports do the same thing.

Of course he also votes primarily on fiscal issues rather than social ones, because he says it's impossible to legislate stupidity and hate. He thinks he's being completely logical. But politicians don't always operate on logic either. They often try to manipulate emotions to get what they want, and people often vote based on emotions too. I figure if you take emotions entirely out of the equation, then your viewpoint has no basis in reality, because emotions drive people's behavior as much as if not more than logic. So you ignore them at your peril.

[u/Live_Car_2856 → u/Onyx_Lat]

Well said!

[u/LaineyValley]

I agree that this has always puzzled me too.

To me it doesn't matter if you give change to a homeless person or buy backpacks for kids in a school supply drive if you refuse to ask yourself what is the root cause of these societal issues and how can I help effect change?

[u/Will564339 → u/LaineyValley]

So I disagree with this because I don't think things should be made into an either/or. I think a big problem with a lot of these discussions is we like to simplify people into fixed categories instead of focusing on where people are, what they're currently doing, and where they can grow and improve.

I think every good and positive action counts and matters. The actions DO help people. Larger scale problems are much more complex, don't always have simple solutions, and take a long time to implement. During that whole process, the smaller actions are very important in keeping things afloat.

I also think that different people have different strengths, and it's fine for some people to focus on what suits them best. There are a lot of details and hard work that's needed to carry out larger plans.

Now, I do agree with you that it's important for everyone to think about the causes and potential solutions. I agree that if a person only ever focuses on the small things without looking at those larger causes, then they'll be repeating the same patterns. I do think it's important for people to look into the bigger issues and work with people to come up with practical, effective ways to implement change.

I think that's different than saying the every day actions don't matter, though.

My other issue with these larger scale issues is that they're over simplified, as well as the solutions for them. These are complex problems that affect millions of people, and there are so many details it takes to actually implement effective change that actually works, not just something that sounds good on paper.

[u/Sea_End_5269]

I might get downvoted heavily on this, but here’s my opinion. The people who “are very nice” are only nice because they don’t feel threatened by casual conversation. They vote for policies that hurt people because they don’t feel the hurt.

They’re not “nice people”. They’re willfully ignorant.

It’s okay if the single mom can’t afford food, she shouldn’t have had children if she couldn’t afford them, and besides, she can go to the church pantry”.

Now if its a woman of color in the same situation, and you’re listening closely, you will hear a haughty righteousness as they instruct you on Biblical scripture.

They aren’t nice. They are nicely snuggled in their own financial and social positions never having to worry about being arrested without cause or deported without due process.

They are not nice people. They are acting out their religious fantasy.

[u/banned_slut → u/Sea_End_5269]

I was chatting with a friend who was saying that his mother defended public welfare policies... that she beneffited from.

and was against the ones she didn't lol, she was talking shit about a program to help single mothers.