The exodus of the blue avatars

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Personally, I think the Republican Party has jumped the shark, abandoning the truth, abandoning democracy and shifting their focus from more important issues to owning the libs and culture wars (even over democracy). Instead of the blue avatar community here watching the party leave them and becoming green or yellow avatars, I feel like a lot of the Republicans here (and everywhere in general) have instead followed Trump down the rabbit hole. The GOP's actions and policies are no longer as defensible in rational debates, and the blue avatars are frustrated that their ability to win / stalemate arguments in good faith is disappearing.

Are you under the impression this forum encourages rational, good faith debates?

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Personally, I think the Republican Party has jumped the shark, abandoning the truth, abandoning democracy and shifting their focus from more important issues to owning the libs and culture wars (even over democracy). Instead of the blue avatar community here watching the party leave them and becoming green or yellow avatars, I feel like a lot of the Republicans here (and everywhere in general) have instead followed Trump down the rabbit hole. The GOP's actions and policies are no longer as defensible in rational debates, and the blue avatars are frustrated that their ability to win / stalemate arguments in good faith is disappearing.

Are you under the impression this forum encourages rational, good faith debates?

Overall, yes, it does. When right wingers want to argue in good faith, discussions happen. Usually people agree to disagree, but occasionally people re-evaluate their positions. This doesn't happen often enough, but the forum does facilitate it and welcome it.

Mostly arguments from the right aren't considered to be in good faith unless posters on the left agree with them, and even then sometimes not.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

I think much of this has less to do with the culture of Atlas and more to do with the nature of conservatism itself. At best, conservatism seeks to preserve the status quo, so they haven't really though about how they might defend their beliefs. They've never had to. They're not advocating for any kind of change, so they don't have any institutions or leaders to challenge. Conservatives generally hail from echo chambers and have rarely, if ever, had their belief system challenged. They haven't been exposed to liberal/progressive line of thought. If they have, it's been a strawman or extremist outlier manufactured by Fox News or some other conservative outlet. So when they finally do encounter a left-leaning person who competently defends their beliefs, it feels like a personal attack. It's the same reason why many conservatives feel that their opinions are not welcome in a university setting. It's the first time where someone has actually made them defend why they believe what they believe.

  

 

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

I think much of this has less to do with the culture of Atlas and more to do with the nature of conservatism itself. At best, conservatism seeks to preserve the status quo, so they haven't really though about how they might defend their beliefs. They've never had to. They're not advocating for any kind of change, so they don't have any institutions or leaders to challenge. Conservatives generally hail from echo chambers and have rarely, if ever, had their belief system challenged. They haven't been exposed to liberal/progressive line of thought. If they have, it's been a strawman or extremist outlier manufactured by Fox News or some other conservative outlet. So when they finally do encounter a left-leaning person who competently defends their beliefs, it feels like a personal attack. It's the same reason why many conservatives feel that their opinions are not welcome in a university setting. It's the first time where someone has actually made them defend why they believe what they believe.

  

 

lol do you deny that conservatives are generally in echo chambers?

Liberals/progressives dominate mass media/pop culture/advertising, education, HR departments, and a whole lot of other fields where conservatives cannot easily avoid being directly exposed to their beliefs even if they don't seek it out or have more liberal friends and family.