August 23, 2013 by David K. Sutton
Self-Righteous Conservative Trolls And Their Unmatched Contempt For Americans
If you’ve ever cruised article comments, particularly but not limited to political articles, you’ve certainly seen your fair share of self-righteous conservative drivel and vile contempt for fellow Americans. Sometimes it’s laugh out loud hysterical, other times it’s incredibly offensive, and sometimes you just have to wonder if this guy is off his meds.
And when you write political articles with a liberal point-of-view, as I do, you mentally prepare yourself for the crazy onslaught that is to follow in article comments, Facebook comments, and direct messages. So let’s examine a direct message I recently received.
CONSERVATIVE TROLL: You left wing people are fucking idiots
Short, offensive, but also mildly amusing. I have to tell you, this is well above average content for the typical conservative troll. Usually I’m left scratching my head, but at least this is direct and to the point. Many times I just ignore right-wing aggression, but I do admit I sometimes can’t help myself. So this is my response.
YOURS TRULY: Nice thoughtful, intelligent, and reasoned message. Although one might question the need to belittle others. I critique the actions and consequences of conservative policy. I’ll leave the juvenile name calling to you.
And we’re off.
CONSERVATIVE TROLL: Had to send a message in a way to get liberals attention, because liberals have a hard time understanding things they don’t agree with like common sense and work ethics
I got your work ethic right here.
YOURS TRULY: No, that’s something conservatives have invented as a way to conveniently absolve themselves of any responsibility for the less fortunate in society. You can continue to say the only reason there are poor people is because they choose to be poor, and you can convince yourself that it’s all their fault. It might even allow you to display true contempt for strangers. It’s a way to disparage and disenfranchise people you don’t even know through support of many Republican office-holders and their draconian policies. The contempt for people, to demean them, tell them they are moochers, when you don’t know their circumstance or their situation, is not productive in a civil society.
And I used to be on the other side of the fence so to speak. I used to vote Republican, that is, before I started paying attention and informing myself instead of assuming the worst in people. That doesn’t mean I support Democrats 100%. Far from it. But yes, I’m liberal, guilty as charged. It’s a badge of honor.
What sayeth thou?
CONSERVATIVE TROLL: It’s called having a work ethic, you not instead of be lazy and depending on someone else to take care of them, much like a stray dog you feed and keeps coming back. They best way to help the poor is to make them uncomfortable in their situation and want to do better instead of handouts !!!
I’m afraid the meds might be wearing thin.
YOURS TRULY: Yep, because everyone can succeed and prosper with hard work. Because there’s no such thing as low paying, hard labor jobs. We aren’t just talking about the unemployed here. There are tens of millions of Americans working full-time jobs that do not pay enough to support one person, let alone a family. And you can tell them to get a better job, or start their own business, but society would cease to function because we need someone to do these craptastic jobs. It’s easy to stomp on the people you believe are below you when you don’t value the work they do.
And maybe your plan might work if the people at the top chose to pay salaries based on merit, but they do not, except for their own salaries. The idea of meritocracy might be fine if the people who profess the value of meritocracy applied it to themselves (no golden parachutes for half-assed jobs).
But let’s face it, many in this country judge people who earn low wages to be less than equal human beings, and it’s a common aspiration to be like those people with the golden parachutes. To strive to be on top of the world and above fellow man, is a pervasive human characteristic that can on rare occasions have a nobel purpose, but if we aren’t at least self-aware, there’s no limit to the level of delusion possible with this mindset.
But I fear my dialog went off the rails early on. See, I made the false move of thinking logic and reason and just plain human decency could break through the mental log jam of conservative thought. Sadly I was mistaken.
