Boomer Liberal Wishfulness, Oil & Votes
Bear with me on this: I love my Yankee Aunt. She is literally a boomer born to southern parents who had migrated to Detroit for factory work post WWII. The rest of the family came back but she never really left. Now she's a retired school teacher who keeps insisting I get a "good government job". (You can tell she's Yankee, if she were redneck it would be "good gov'mint job").
Some of my country cousins brought up the scariness China's joint exercises with Russia and I brought up the menace of the aircraft carrier Vayrag-which they had not heard about. My die-hard liberal aunt says (harrumphing breath)"If we just take away our bias, why is it wrong for them to be able to defend themselves." Yeah you can guess I didn't take this well. I quickly took into context that she does not understand the use of aircraft carrier has nothing to do with defense and everything to do with projection of power. So I responded nice, but with resignation: "And most countries don't use tanks on student protestors either."
I didn't get a response on that one. Also why I don't bring up politics or world events at family gatherings.
She obviously thinks the leaders in Beijing are just like her next door neighbors. That everyone should just "get along". Liberal wishfulness mixed with a total denial of history. She genuinely believes we as the USA do not have the right to be the most powerful nation on earth.
She also said that oil prices are high because the "oil robber barons are in the White House". My wife responded that the Chinese are using a lot more oil than they used to but my aunt just rolled her eyes. Jee, who controls Iraq, and who has possession of the oil fields there? If we are a fascist evil warmongering country then shouldn't we be paying like $1 per gallon because of all of the oil we now control? Or did we give the Iraqi people control of their oil?
Even worse she has my cousins saying "We voted for Kerry (get this) because we should "give someone else a chance to run the country"... THAT's a reason to make someone President? Because it's his turn? This ain't kickball! You vote because of a belief in what the candidate stands for. Not because you vote against his opponent!
I know her generation has a hard time seeing things in a conservative light and she is a reflection of that. Just sometimes what she says shows that she is sticking her head in the sand rather than face facts and it really drives me nuts. If she could give me a logical argument on what she thinks then that would be different. However mostly it's just what makes her feel good to say. My comments and questions usually just frustrate her.
Did I mention her oldest daughter is going to spend another year in Taiwan doing research? Maybe my aunt doesn't want what I say to make sense because of that.
Some of my country cousins brought up the scariness China's joint exercises with Russia and I brought up the menace of the aircraft carrier Vayrag-which they had not heard about. My die-hard liberal aunt says (harrumphing breath)"If we just take away our bias, why is it wrong for them to be able to defend themselves." Yeah you can guess I didn't take this well. I quickly took into context that she does not understand the use of aircraft carrier has nothing to do with defense and everything to do with projection of power. So I responded nice, but with resignation: "And most countries don't use tanks on student protestors either."
I didn't get a response on that one. Also why I don't bring up politics or world events at family gatherings.
She obviously thinks the leaders in Beijing are just like her next door neighbors. That everyone should just "get along". Liberal wishfulness mixed with a total denial of history. She genuinely believes we as the USA do not have the right to be the most powerful nation on earth.
She also said that oil prices are high because the "oil robber barons are in the White House". My wife responded that the Chinese are using a lot more oil than they used to but my aunt just rolled her eyes. Jee, who controls Iraq, and who has possession of the oil fields there? If we are a fascist evil warmongering country then shouldn't we be paying like $1 per gallon because of all of the oil we now control? Or did we give the Iraqi people control of their oil?
Even worse she has my cousins saying "We voted for Kerry (get this) because we should "give someone else a chance to run the country"... THAT's a reason to make someone President? Because it's his turn? This ain't kickball! You vote because of a belief in what the candidate stands for. Not because you vote against his opponent!
I know her generation has a hard time seeing things in a conservative light and she is a reflection of that. Just sometimes what she says shows that she is sticking her head in the sand rather than face facts and it really drives me nuts. If she could give me a logical argument on what she thinks then that would be different. However mostly it's just what makes her feel good to say. My comments and questions usually just frustrate her.
Did I mention her oldest daughter is going to spend another year in Taiwan doing research? Maybe my aunt doesn't want what I say to make sense because of that.
posted by Possum at 07:58
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