Why do liberals and leftists want to continually indoctrinate everyone else, while today's conservatives tend to adopt a live and let live attitude?

Raising this question to conservative friends, I had no idea that the issue would prompt such intense reactions, including heartfelt expressions about attempts to communicate with family members, relatives, friends, and associates.

Judy S. said: "I've tried to discuss politics with a few liberals, including family members whom I love, and their responses always felt like having venom spit at me by an agitated viper.  I no longer discuss politics with anyone on the left.  I do, however, give God an earful now and then.  This is His show and, free will or not, the leftist movement needs to be handled.  Its leaders are in league with the devil, and it's not going well."

She continued: "What I've learned is that intellectual ability can be completely undermined by ignorance.  In fact, ignorance is the driving support for the progressive agenda.  If they were exposed to the truth, they'd be aghast.  I have a stepdaughter whose jaw drops every time she comes over.  Her dad and I fill her in on what's really going on.  She avoids the news like it's herpes — but at least she's honest about it.  Her brother is conservative and informed, so we love talking with him — but his wife is liberal, so we have to pick our moments!"

Arjia said: "Before the 2020 election, I tried all the time to discuss politics with a friend, Dave.  All my cited articles, from where my information came, well, he'd just deflect with general statements.  We stopped trying to discuss politics after a few months.  When he sees me, he still talks to me, though not a lot.  That makes me sad.  And it all points back to the media's biases, which I'll never grasp.  What on Earth do they think they are accomplishing by destroying America?"

Kevin said: "It is amazing how illiberal they reveal themselves to be!  And they weigh in with some pretty powerful tools, including social media, to cancel and often slander those who might have different views.  When their policy prescriptions fail, they double down rather than recalibrate."

I wrote back to the people above and said, "Many people have now written to me and said that it's virtually impossible to have a discussion with their liberal relatives, friends, or associates.  This is quite a phenomenon — one to be studied by sociologists for ages.  How can people who call themselves liberal be anything but?"

Continuing, I said, "As chairperson of our high school reunions, I toe a fine line.  Half of my classmates lean left.  I won't introduce any notion of politics into our website or discussions whatsoever, and I certainly don't want to discourage them from coming to reunions, but wow...what some of them believe..."

One of my long-term buddies, since the third grade, is Paul.  He was our senior class president and the valedictorian.  He is one of the most brilliant people I've ever known, except when it comes to politics.

The mainstream media have grabbed him by the throat and never loosen their grip.  We wrangled for years.  Then he said he was done.  He didn't want to hear anything more.  We continued on but stay totally clear of politics.  Kind of makes some of the communication shallow, but what the heck?

You and I freely explore alternative news sources because we know we're not getting the truth from the mainstream media.  Our liberal friends do not undertake such activities.  It's a sad state of affairs, but it is the reality with which we must deal.

The mainstream media in the United States, moreover, are powerful beyond anything that we can imagine.  Their target viewers or readers accept what they are told virtually without question.  They believe that these so-called pillars of television and newspaper reporting are sacrosanct in their procedures and information delivery.

They don't question CBS, ABC, or NBC.  They have no inkling that the New York Times and the Washington Post have a distinct bias that is employed in each and every feature.  Given the great divide between the information received by those on the left and those of us on the right, in the foreseeable future, it is not likely that there will be much in the way of agreement, let alone discussion, let alone civil discussion!

Image: PxFuel.