this dissonance is explored by only a few independent thinking lefties

There was a meme a while ago saying something to that effect. Something like: Trump is such a fascist he allows the entire internet to call him a fascist.

for a few people's it's possible to force them to face up to this dissonance

but most people will shy away (even smart people, hell, especially smart people) and retreat into a shell

a spiritual fortress

I've found only one successful way, and that is love and friendship

they have to have something to lose for escaping behind battlements

the most ripe targets for conversion are the liberals who respect you and who you respect

that's why I think the best strategy is the truth

huh.

rather than means over ends thinking

ends over means*

would you like me to clarify a statement @sampletext ? Just ask

a tool i always use is influence

There has to be good faith, and love

i just found "[4:20 PM] fallot: the most ripe targets for conversion are the liberals who respect you and who you respect" intriguing.

it cannot be simply a pragmatic approach

yee yee 420 #blazeit

because if someone has no respect for you, it's easy for them to retreat behind their defenses

your mind, especially if you are smart

is very capable of leading you astray

the smarter people form very complete and multifaceted justifications

for insanity

can relate, from being paranoid

this is why I was never down with "cull <120"

because it's the less intelligent people who are more in touch with "common sense"

for whom tradition is not simply an abstraction

but something that perfuses their life

something they value as more than an idea

the smarter people can more fully realize that truth, but they are less equipped from the starting point

i would say that there are things better suited for <120 iqs

their instinct is to go against tradition

NOT making decisions that affect the well-being of an entire population

I don't entirely disagree, but

all about merit to me

no, this is a bit dangerous I think, the way you are going down

we already live in a cognitive meritocracy

most of history was religious, military and aristocratic elites

only now, in modernity, do we have an "ideas men" elite

since the enlightenment or renaissance one could say, gradually leading to the current state

your average shitlib journo