oh! no! not the folks i work with. One of them I consider a great friend. He even knows about my sympathies apparently paying careful attention to my facebook goodreads updates and who my friends are. i'm most def. a commie symp. he still thinks it's a hoot to share dirty jokes, mock our big boss Queeg, and bitch about idiots who don't understand the need for Web standards or argue over whether IE 6 needs to be taken behind a barn and shot. hard.
None of the three folks I know are lunatics, no more than everyone else anyhoo. And they're definitely not ignorant. They just read the rightwing web sites religiously: Free Republic, Drudge Report, World New Daily or whatever it's called.
Personally, I dont see them as especially threatening. These guys are big talkers. But they *do* zippo. They might go to a rally. But mostly all they really do is yak up a storm, insist that everyone in their work place is a crazy socialist- medicine supporting lefty because hi-tech, as we all know, is dominated by lefties, socialists, commies and all manner of riff raff. probably anarchists too.
One of them kind of flipped out when Obama was elected. He was in the cewb aisle talking about how he was going to have to leave the country or something. they are really vocal, and the funny thing about them is they are convinced that everyone is allied against them. They see themselves as an embattled minority. And because they feel so alone, they feel they have to constantly talk about it to their brethren and sistren. They seek them out in a room instantly, gather around to gether - safety in numbers! -- and make sure to talk the gospel. I couldn't believe it though. As much as they seem really insecure, certain no one agrees with them, they also feel perfectly comfortable going on and on about politics right out in public, in the workplace. Democrats, progs, and lefties always run around all mealy mouthed and hiding it because they don't want to start any arguments.
Now the people who I happen to think are worth my time bringing on board is the guy who sits near me, working on his personal MILF web site all day long. He got into a convo with one of the libertarian nerds who loves his wackness from texASS. whathis name? Anyway, MILF guy is saying that he thinks health care reform is a great idea, blah blah. But he's not very political. He's not even very, well, anything. In fact, one day we were talking about what we'd do if we won millions. MILF said he's sit around and watch TV all day. He was serious. His ambition in life is to fuck around and do zero that requires brain wattage of any sort, though he likes movies and will talk about what he rented the weekend before.
Anyway, he gets into this discussion with Libertarian Nerd. Libertarian nerd is argumentative type. Libertarian Nerd just persists, over and over again trying to convince MILF guy that he shouldn't support it.
MILF guy who doesn't have clue one about why he thinks he should support health care other than that it sucks that some people have so many problems and that some people have no health care. That's wrong. He doesn't have an analysis as to why they don't have it. you know? Like some conservatives will rack up some argument about how the lack of free enterprise in the system makes health care impossible for the poor. MILF guy just thinks this: I have health care. People I love have it. it is a good thing to have it. Everyone should have it. Nice and uncomplicated, that.
Libertarian Nerd starts going on about freedom. No one should be forced to buy it though. You can tell he probably doesn't have any idea about the who insurance issue, blah blah,about spreading risk and why someone like him, young and healthy needs to pony up to support those who aren't blah blah. For him, it was all about the injustice of taking a choice away.
Both of those two guys? To me, there's greater potential in working with them than any tea partier - in spite of the fact that I prefer the company of the tea partiers I work with than either of these two guys. But MILF guy, well, he just needs some help learning how to articulate his beliefs. After all, he put up with the incessant rap of Libertarian Nerd, who wore me down listening to him that I slapped headphones on to such him out of my head. He's pretty firm in his gut instinct, and kept shaking his head no at every argument Lib Nerd trotted out.
What I see you doing, brad, is going after people who you perceive as activists. You see them as highly vocal, blabber mouths, and people with energy and movement.
Well fuck that shit. I realize that, doing organizing work, you sometimes want to cling to anyone, anyone at all, if they are more than a warm body. So, high energy folks organized by the enemy seem like a great target: you don't have tod o much except channel the energy in the right direction.
But MILF boy. Man, a hard case. Not only would he need help articulating arguments to support his gut instinct, but then you have to work against that desire to sit around and watch teevee all day. That would suck, huh?
Well, yeah: tough titties. It's work. Someone bothered with you at some point, yah? The ordinary MILF guy is worth the trouble. Maybe they're not all cool and romantic, like the rabble rousing, loud mouthed, action oriented tea partiers. Maybe they're just, you know, kinda happy watching teevee and doing as little work as possible. yeah, bummer. You aren't likely to recruit more bodies bearing labor power to the movement relying on MILF boy, but if that's all you want them for, to channel their energy where you imagine you can ride them like the 50cent pony at kmart?
fuck that noise.
I'd rather deal with MILF guy -- or even Libertarian Nerd. At least they are humans and not mere bundles of labor power to exploit as front line soldieries in some fucking movement that doesn't even exist.
shag
-- http://cleandraws.com Wear Clean Draws ('coz there's 5 million ways to kill a CEO)