Oops…deleted this by mistake. 😰

“What I’ve just realized is that to a great extent I’ve been comparing what I watch on British TV with how Americans dialogue on issues, and its depressing.”

If there is a difference, I’d probably say your “thinkers” tend to be more political, more partisan, whereas here pretty much everyone despises politicians and their parties. The last vestiges of party loyalty were swept away after the Brexit referendum. It really is all about issues now.

“Perhaps my concept of how Brits customarily interact with one another is highly idealized and based on nothing more than my own viewing of British televised fiction and/ormy reading British novels and classics!”

Heh! Maybe…it depends on the books you’re reading and the shows you’re watching. You may be disappointed… 😂

“Of course, I’d love to visit England. I’d love to go for a loong visit because I’m fascinated with England to tell the truth.”

Haha, well you should definitely swing by. We’ve had a gorgeous summer this year which seemingly ended last week. That means rain from now until January…sigh. So any time between mid April to early August would be a safe bet. Don’t spend too long in London – the beating heart of England and its people lies in the countryside (ie. the flyover states). In the Lake District, the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales, the Cotswolds, the South Downs, the Surrey Hills and Cornwall. I’m half Scottish so it would be rude of me not to also gush about Edinburgh, the Highlands, and the stone circles of Orkney and Lewis (so much better/less touristy than Stonehenge). And then there’s Wales…you can’t not explore Snowdonia. It’s a 90 minute drive from Liverpool…and a hiker’s paradise.

But I have to say, I have a whole lot of love for America. I’ve been a fair few times now and it never gets dull. More recently, I spent a couple of months island-hopping Hawaii and hiking the Alaskan wilderness – and they were, without a doubt, some of the best experiences of my life. The people also…some of the wildest, wackiest, kindest, loveliest and most down to earth I’ve ever met. From the ex-addict, ex-wife of a millionnaire who lost everything in the divorce (including her kids), now working in the kitchen of a diner in Kauai, trying to get her life back on track – to the Texans I met in a bar in Kyoto, Japan, who invited me to go trekking with them in bear country after only a couple of rounds of beers – and everyone else in between. I don’t see these kinds of people in US media. And if they’re mentioned, it often feels like an afterthought. Yet they are, for me at least, the real America. And I’m smitten.

“…the infinitely more vocal minority (the ideological extreme)…”

Yes, its possible that the majority of Americans are not getting stupider and stupider and that this only an apparency due to the extreme and shrill and extremely shrill voices of a minority.

Your point is well taken. It has validity and I appreciate your taking the time to explain it.

mwestern, I’ll share this with you too; I’m somewhat addicted to British TV. I watch a great deal of it. Its refreshing to listen to actual conversation. People speaking intelligently in actual sentences. Arguing, possibly, disagreeing, but within the general context of a debate, with civility. Making points cleverly without insults, vulgarity and vitriol. Its refreshing. So I watch a lot of it.

What I’ve just realized is that to a great extent I’ve been comparing what I watch on British TV with how Americans dialogue on issues, and its depressing.

I’ve been making an unfair comparison – British TELEVISION, British FICTION, mostly, to American REALITY.

Perhaps, just as Americans are quite diverse, Brits are just as diverse and possible even more so. Perhaps my concept of how Brits customarily interact with one another is highly idealized and based on nothing more than my own viewing of British televised fiction and/ormy reading British novels and classics!

Now, I don’t know, actually. I can’t really say if I’m being unrealistic about the Brits because I’ve never been to England, nor have I much experience in interacting with them here in America. Of course, I’d love to visit England. I’d love to go for a loong visit because I’m fascinated with England to tell the truth.

I could be utterly deluded. I’m laughing as I write this, so thanks again for sharing what you did. It helped 🙂

I get it, totally!

Ha ha…unfair. Your Monopoly money is as green as anyone else’s 🙂

Cat W, I have thought a lot about what you posted and just didn’t know how to respond other than to say I am glad you said what you said. Everyone is one slip and fall, or disease, or car accident away from having life as they knew it taken away.

jere, you are right that someone who lives the life that is so depressing that they have to envision such a horrible fate on someone else does it to convince themselves that they are better off even if they live in this horrible cult. At least they could get out of their situation if they wished to.

I think sometimes I come off as more wounded than I actually am. I’m pretty decent at being expressive conveying emotion when I’m gettin goin…. but that wasn’t what I was meaning with the post.

I start telling some of the stories, just in my head, and they’re ridiculous. I go, Christ, has my neighbor ever gone through anything like this? Is this kind of stuff NORMAL anywhere else?

I was trying to convey this to a never In. I finally said, “look, there is nothing, and I mean NOTHING I have ever done to my body, with my body, to different body, that I have not discussed in DETAIL, over and over again with many auditors. I lived with NO secrets. Ever. Period. They would imperil my eternity, why would I keep them?”

The depth of IN is wild.

🙂

I think of it from the wonder, “is this super weird?”

Is there a real world counterpart that regular non-cult people experience as part and parcel to their normal lives.

Armed forces, priesthood? Anything?

When you’re a kid (back in the day) you might be put in a corner for punishment or correction at school. Public humiliation was part of a 1960’s-70’s public school experience.

The feeling from this is the only bit comparable to some of the ethics justice actions of the cult.

I don’t think most adults continue to go through this type of thing into adulthood from their careers or society.

Aqua, even as I read his rants about drugs, I was fairly certain he knew those things because he’d taken them to excess like every druggie did.

Joe succeeded whereas I failed. I tried for a “Pewter Potty Donor” prize but they would not accept my Monopoly money.

Unconsciousness or denial, either one seems to work jere.

Aqua – did he spill it?