A Study As to the Comparative Lack of Manners and the Relation of Rudeness to Political Ideology

Stand back everybody...the long winded one has arrived!

After days of this spectacle (and my own low ratings) I thought I would give this a shot.  I have a different approach, one both subjective and verbose.  We baked plenty of cinnamon rolls and have a few gallons of sun tea, fresh milk and homemade soda ready for the spectators.  So hunker down and listen to one ol' man's two cents.  Or completely disregard this post...enjoy the refreshments.  :)

One of the stated purposes of NB is to expose the liberal bias in the media.  An additional purpose would be and is the dissemination and promotion of ideas; social, political and others (bread, ports, etc.)

As NB is a form of media, studying and drawing conclusions as to the above purposes, forming ideas as to content and biases, expanding all users abilities to learn from and identify bias or attributes of opposing political ideologues is of benefit to all.

Like some other posters, I have had some need to address the center of this forum, yet I have been able to realize that there is little or no benefit in doing so on their terms.  Frankly, there is not the slightest chance that the center of the debate will accept any point I make. My references would be, in their eyes, inadequate, my interpretation of a reference, in their eyes, incorrect. In addition to this, if I pushed a point I would be subject to derision, disrespect and patronizing condescension. While I have thick skin, I don't needlessly self-abuse; I only fight when it matters.  I am able to recognize a person who has firmly planted beliefs and opinions and I can understand and live with that.  Their beliefs are based on their perceptions, education, experiences and beliefs, just like anyone's are.

I never think that I am going to change someone's politics; I merely offer my own perspective and share with them my humanity.  Sometimes I am able to make people take out their beliefs and look them over.  Sometimes they change their minds.  But I don't think that I am going to achieve those things, guaranteed.  By offering a counterpoint to an opposing view, we offer an undecided or less entrenched person more data from which to base their own political direction.

I want to offer these things for the record, for this post and my future here at NB, however long that may be.

• If my beliefs are challenged or even insulted, I will not name call.  I am not in grade school. Thrown tomatoes do not give us the excuse to lose our dignity. "Stoic" is an unfortunate casualty of the modern era.
• If my views are challenged or questioned in the same way they have been at an earlier time, I will answer again, without animosity, as best I can.  I will not say "I have already answered that." I am happy for the chance to engage again.  Life contains many instances where we will be endlessly challenged through repetition.
• If I say I will answer a person's response, then I will do so, as soon as I can and as completely as I can, without animosity. I will not blow you off, even if you pose an awkward question.
• I will not consider a political opponent stupid or evil.  They may prove themselves to be, but I do not equate disagreement with me alone as justification of someone's stupidity or darkness.
• I will never laugh at someone in a debate.  I will not laugh at their ideas or beliefs.  I may think them wrong, or less than my own, but laughter at another human being without laughing at oneself first is one of the primary signs of a person lacking respect for themselves and others.  Laughing as a weapon or distraction is cheap and patronizing.  Remember: no one likes to be ridiculed, patronized or mocked.  In the words of the Duke, "I don't do these things to others and I expect the same in return."  "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" makes for good neighbors, Christian or not.
• I will not utilize "bumper sticker"responses.  I will give the most complete, honest and respectful answer I can.  Arguments and ideas take time and effort to develop.  The burden of understanding rests on both the speaker and the listener.  They must honestly seek to understand and to be understood to the other.
• I will keep to the high ground, even in the face of the lowest common denominator of human behavior: rudeness.
• I will foster the spirit of camaraderie, humor and hospitality, as much as I can.  If I tease, it will be friendly, gentle and directed at myself and my own silly existence just as much as it is directed at another.
• I will apologize, humbly, when I have failed as a decent human being to uphold myself with kindness, generosity and in a civilized manner. When I apologize, it will be for the benefit of the person wronged, not myself.  I will not qualify an apology; being wrong is being wrong. I may ask for the right to explain, and if granted, I will explain.The person whom I wronged decides if the apology is adequate, not me.  I will not apologize to placate, I will not apologize for what I believe and I will not apologize for apologizing.
• I realize that even the use of references is not absolute.  All data, every source, is subject not only to the perceptions, experiences, education and beliefs of the person creating the reference or gathering the data but also that the person citing said reference is also using their own filters.
• Bottom Line:  I will not behave in a boorish manner. I may be boring, but never boorish. If we act on the same level as our opponents, we are no better than they are.  To meet fire with fire is one thing; to engage in the very behavior that makes them our enemy is not only foolish, but self-defeating.

Having said all that, I will say this: Manners are important.  They can let society move more easily and smoothly.  In the modern era, it has become fashionable to take the position that rudeness somehow demonstrates individuality, strength and freedom.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  To keep a level head, a calm voice, maintain your dignity, treat others gently and keep a rational, realist perspective is to be in control of yourself, and self-control is true strength.  Anyone who has worked with large, unruly groups or has had to deal with confrontational situations knows this: calm gets results.  The well-mannered make for better neighbors.  we all lose our cool sometimes, but it important to always be diligently self-aware.

Part (not a large part, but a significant part) of what brings me to Conservatism is how my people are treated by folks of other political persuasions.  My experience has been that Conservatives afford us better treatment and less judgment than others.  They have also made better neighbors, respecting our rights, keeping their property tidy, paying their bills, conducting themselves with decorum, being kinder, more generous and helpful compared to our experiences with others.

I was not raised in a political party.  I was raised in an environment which embraced the idea of accepting and evaluating on what something is, not what we want it to be.  Based on this, my evaluations are based on my experience. Others may have had different experiences, but I must use my own existence as the primary measure of my existence.  In other words, as only I can truly know me, only I can truly be responsible for me.  I am happy to hear others, to engage the world around me, but in the case of a tie, my own experience will be the tie-breaker.

Having stated quite a bit about who I am, what I believe and where I am coming from, I am now entering the fray.  I have stated what I will and will not do.  the way, from my point of view, to carry out my purpose in commenting on this forum is to select a subject, for study, to investigate manners in relation to ideology.  I will study that subject by gathering data as fairly as possible and them posting, later, a full disclosure and the results of that study.

Perhaps this study will be of value to someone, perhaps not.  This is my own necessary first step into this debate.

The proposed study:

The primary subject of this study will be the comments of the poster Pi314.  This not an evaluation of the person, as such, but more a study of the connection between conduct and ideology. In this sampling, this subject will represent a category of Liberal/Democrats.

The secondary subjects of this study will be comments of other posters, of varying types and degrees of political ideology.again, these are not evaluations of the persons, but again the connection of conduct and ideology. In this sampling, these subjects (more than a dozen) will represent additional Liberal/Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Conservatives, Liberals, Democrats, Mouseketeers and any other variety that the study discloses.  The political ideologies will only be self-defined ones on the part of the poster through comments or bio; political labels will not be applied beacause of content.

Raw Demographic Origin Data for the Primary Subject:

• Pi314 has been a member of NB for 43 weeks 4 Days
• self-declared liberal/democrat
• family man (wife, daughter)
• lives in N.J. has ties to NYC
• declared self as Sicilian
• American citizen
• owns a shotgun
• helps around the house (helps wife cook)
• helps daughter in Girl Scouts
• non-vegetarian 
• no prior military service
• 54 years old
• male

This information was garnered from comments and is included only as demographic identifiers.  I will update this as my staff wades through 1200+ posts.

Based on this data, I would have to say that there is nothing negatively or positively exceptional; just seems like a standard American.  "Regular Joe" type.

Raw data for secondary subjects to be provided as necessary and available.

Comments to be included in this study will be found in the 17 blogs/forums tracked to Pi314 at this date.  The cut off time for these comments will be 08:24 AM MDT, April 07, 2009.  Once the initial data is gathered, we will be happy to amend with posts up to a new date. But we have to start somewhere.

Question: Is there a correlation between manners and political ideology? 

Hypothesis: A significant number of Liberals are condescending, patronizing, disrespectful, hypocritical, elitist and are generally boorish.  The behavior of many, not all, of their behavior as a group is parallel to that one guest you have at your dinner party who keeps partaking of alcohol beyond socialization, who, once the supply of booze is exhausted, drives quickly to the liquor store to resupply.  The guest grows less and less reasonable, more combative and continues to escalate the disrespect, insulting and patronization of other guests, always promoting their cherished beliefs as the Ultimate Truth.  This study further will seek to discover if this failure to engage in intellectually honest, polite and respectful debate is applicable to Liberals in general; is the polite, well spoken Liberal the rule or the exception?

Secondary Hypothesis:  When confronting the "drunken guest" political situation, there are several responses, including taking sides, inappropriate frustrated aggression, peace-making and leaving the "party."  To be determined:  which and to what degree might any or all of these actions amount to behavior as boorish as the "guest" type?

*Note*  In my short time as a member here at NB, I have had mostly positive experiences, including with those who disagree with some of my views.  I appreciate that. *Note*

Continuing...

Experiment: I and my staff will once again read through all 17 tracked Pi314 forum/blog items and the attendant 1200+ posts therein.  By doing this, we will be able to gather a significant test sampling of behavior in regards to manners.  This will take a few days; be patient.  The categories we will allocate comments and portions thereof are as follows (but not limited to):

• unanswered legitimate debate requests
• unanswered debate questions
• categorical apologies, i.e with or without qualifiers 
• the &^$@($^@^$@ OH MY GAWDS!!!
• The HAHAHAHAHAHAHA 's
• name calling as an insult direct
• the insult direct
• denigrating another persons faith or lack thereof
• derision phrases
• patronizing catch phrases
• Buh BYE
• aHem
• internet short talk
• LOL in and of itself
• and anything else which is not germane to its thread (friendly chat aside) but is instead the disregard of the humanity of another human being

Once the data are gathered and collated, I will post all the results, conclusions and my own opinions here and in its own Woodshed forum. My staff works as I write.

Once the study is complete, maybe someone will be interested, maybe not.  I, for one, am interested in those 1200+ posts accomplishing something besides grinding egos and getting jollies.  Granted there were brief moments of real content, but even those moments were fraught with disrespectful behavior and bad manners .  We will see if my life experience aligns with the recent experiences at NB.

Personally, if I ever acted the way folks have acted in the Woodshed (heated debate DOES NOT have to be so d*mn rude) lately, my Momma would have beaten me into the next life, regardless if I were right or wrong.  And she is right; you do not defeat stereotypes by becoming one.

Just because we don't agree, won't agree. can't agree, shouldn't agree, whatever, doesn't give us a license to treat someone with disrespect. Even if your opponent is more guilty than you, think about this: you can't be a little bit pregnant; you are or you aren't. Let the rude be rude; you will garner more respect and veracity to your argument, even from those you disagree with regularly.  If you can stick to your guns, under fire you will accomplish more.  Remember, people are judged by the company they keep, so too are your ideas and beliefs judged in the same way.  A rude person only impresses other classless people.

I understand when enough is enough, and Churchill is right, sometimes you do have to "step on the other guys toes until HE apologizes."  At the same time, Churchill, one of the greatest speakers of the modern are (or any era) was direct, on topic and unflappable.  His demeanor was one of respect for himself and his audience.

I understand that Free Speech gives a person certain latitude in not only what you say but how you say it.  My comments on manners no way endorses shutting people up.  I am looking at this from practical and philosophical viewpoints.

All things being equal, I do believe a dueling society would be of great benefit and solve the question of manners decisively...

Thank you your time and consideration to this post.  We will crunch this data. check our work and see what we find.

Does anyone need a refill?  How about some homemade ice cream?