Political discourse is dead (1 Viewer)

[Jeteraus]

In this country, people believe what they want. You can argue, reason, and plead, but you will rarely, if ever, change anyone's mind concerning a given issue. In most political debates, everyone begins knowing what they believe, and they do not listen to the opposition, because they are too busy thinking about what they will say next. If someone does listen to an opposing point of view, they do it not with an open mind, but looking for ways to disagree or prove the other person wrong. Honest and open political debate died long ago, and the two ruling parties still feast on its corpse.

 

[Pen]

I would like to believe that civil political discourse is still possible, but I must admit that even among close friends we ultimately agree to disagree. There are folks that are rigid in their political ideology for numerous reasons. I acknowledge that I am quite rigid on specific policies such as Roe v. Wade.

Is political discourse dead? No, of course not, but it may require some emergency room resuscitation before hospice is called in.

 

[mpg]

It was always like this?

 

[Kandahar]

Of course people can and do change their minds based on the merits of political argument. If they didn't, society would still be the same as it was thousands of years ago.

But generally it's a more gradual process than hearing an argument and immediately conceding its correctness. If someone makes a convincing argument, I might not accept it right away. But if it's a good argument and it recurs often enough that I think about its merits on a regular basis, then I'll change my mind. Occasionally, an argument is so persuasive that it will instantly change people's opinions (example: John Stossel singlehandedly convinced me of the need for school choice).

 

[SixStringHero]

I'm here because I want to learn. I'm intrigued by the prospect that people can latch onto one ideology or party and discount everything the opposing side says.

I don't try to change anyone's minds, nor do I debate that much. I mainly observe what people say and chime in from time to time. I find it quite odd that people makes comments such as CNN is the Clinton News Nework and refer to Fox News as Faux News.

I also don't understand why the majority of the site is happens to be Liberal or Conservative. I myself am a Centrist so I'm here to get a grasp on what makes people tick politically I guess.

Sorry about the tangent, I'm tired.

 

[RightOfCenter]

I don't think political discourse is dead, but it may be well on its way if people don't start thinking for themselves and voting along party lines. Having conviction for what you believe in is good but letting it block out every other opinion is insane.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain an idea without accepting it."-Aristotle.

 

[FallingPianos]

In this country, people believe what they want. You can argue, reason, and plead, but you will rarely, if ever, change anyone's mind concerning a given issue. In most political debates, everyone begins knowing what they believe, and they do not listen to the opposition, because they are too busy thinking about what they will say next. If someone does listen to an opposing point of view, they do it not with an open mind, but looking for ways to disagree or prove the other person wrong. Honest and open political debate died long ago, and the two ruling parties still feast on its corpse.

I did not vote. being dead implies that it was once alive. the things you speak of are simply human traits.

 

[massive_attack]

I'm not sure if it was ever alive.

"Political Debate" in referrence to what politicians do is a disgrace to the word debate.