When someone's opinion differs from yours...

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Mark Leavy
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Re: When someone's opinion differs from yours...

Post by Mark Leavy » Thu Sep 17, 2020 10:07 pm

jalanlong wrote:
Thu Sep 17, 2020 9:51 pm

Well the stakes are not the same in eating an inferior sandwich vs choosing an inferior surgeon.

However, is it disingenuous of me to be angry at him for his social media diatribes when a) I chose to read them, he did not send them to me and b) I only follow him because he is a CEO of a startup bank. I dont vett everyone I do business with. I do not follow my dentist's tweets or my veterinarian's or my barber's. We get mad at the big companies doing the big virtue signaling but we never hold our local merchants to the same standards.
This was one of the better reads of the evening. Well thought through and a great demonstration of the process.
I'm a firm believer that we can answer our own questions once we throw them against the wall.

Mark
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Re: When someone's opinion differs from yours...

Post by flyingpylon » Fri Sep 18, 2020 4:54 am

jalanlong wrote:
Thu Sep 17, 2020 9:51 pm
Well the stakes are not the same in eating an inferior sandwich vs choosing an inferior surgeon.

However, is it disingenuous of me to be angry at him for his social media diatribes when a) I chose to read them, he did not send them to me and b) I only follow him because he is a CEO of a startup bank. I dont vett everyone I do business with. I do not follow my dentist's tweets or my veterinarian's or my barber's. We get mad at the big companies doing the big virtue signaling but we never hold our local merchants to the same standards.
Just focus on things you can control. CEOs will come and go, you can ignore them for the most part. Unfollow the guy.

It sounds like you’re happy with the product. If that changes, make a switch. Or if you look around and find another option that’s just as good and comes without the baggage of an annoying CEO, make a switch.

Otherwise, just focus on the business transaction and whether it works for you. It creates a lot less stress.
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Maddy
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Re: When someone's opinion differs from yours...

Post by Maddy » Fri Sep 18, 2020 7:12 am

There are literally hundreds of opportunities each day to push back against tyranny. Each one of them represents an opportunity to "man up" and exercise some backbone. Minor displays of principle that don't require much in the way of personal sacrifice are easy--and ordinarily less meaningful in overall impact than the ones that require something of actual value to be put on the line. But for someone who's used to making compromises for the sake of expedience, even small sacrifices for the sake of principle are a necessary step in the right direction. Bottom line: You don't become a courageous or principled person over night. If you can't turn down a sandwich or change banks for the sake of sending an important message (or if you fail to see the reason for doing so), you have no chance of being able to step up when the stakes really matter.
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jalanlong
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Re: When someone's opinion differs from yours...

Post by jalanlong » Fri Sep 18, 2020 9:03 am

Maddy wrote:
Fri Sep 18, 2020 7:12 am
There are literally hundreds of opportunities each day to push back against tyranny. Each one of them represents an opportunity to "man up" and exercise some backbone. Minor displays of principle that don't require much in the way of personal sacrifice are easy--and ordinarily less meaningful in overall impact than the ones that require something of actual value to be put on the line. But for someone who's used to making compromises for the sake of expedience, even small sacrifices for the sake of principle are a necessary step in the right direction. Bottom line: You don't become a courageous or principled person over night. If you can't turn down a sandwich or change banks for the sake of sending an important message (or if you fail to see the reason for doing so), you have no chance of being able to step up when the stakes really matter.
Maddy,

I always like your posts!!!
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Re: When someone's opinion differs from yours...

Post by glennds » Fri Sep 18, 2020 9:18 am

You've asked an honest question, and here's one person's honest answer:

I think it's important to remain cognizant that in the US we have the right to an opinion and the right to disagree. In a healthy society, the disagreement between two parties should be civil and tolerated. As radical as it might sound, it should be possible to espouse different philosophies and still be friends, let alone do business together. Some would say the whole idea of opinion diversity is fundamental to democracy.

I personally think it is an indication of an unhealthy society when:
  • People cannot be friends or do business together if they hold different political views
  • When someone's differing political view to your own represents an existential threat to you
  • When people are pressured to choose a side, in other words neutrality is frowned upon. The failure to choose a side can result in differing levels of persecution.
  • People feel pressure to keep their views secret for fear of retribution if they made them known, even accidentally (outside of safe quarters).
  • It is difficult to find information (i.e. news) that is not presented in a way that overtly villianizes one side or the other. At a certain point of advanced dysfunction it becomes very difficult to know what to believe.
  • You begin to see increasing amounts of paranoia on one or both sides. For example, the other side represents more than just your less preferred option, they represent the end of civilization, or life as we know it, or "they're" coming for you to threaten your personal safety
If these various symptoms do not describe the society in which you would want to live, then consciously do your best not to perpetuate them. In your case, so long as the bank executive is not trying to force you to listen to his opinion and join his political point of view, then just continue to separate business from politics. Permit him to voice his political opinion and retain your right to form your own. The two do not have to be mutually exclusive. If his opinions bother you then choose not to follow him on social media.
What if you never did so in the first place and hence had no idea what his political views are?
Then the question you're raising wouldn't even have occurred to you.

It is easy to blame political leaders for everything, but when a society becomes unhealthy in the way I have described above, it is because the populace has chosen to adopt the behavior. These choices may have been unconscious, but the fact remains that widespread polarization, intolerance, judgmentalism, and simple absence of civility are collectively corrosive to any society.
Simonjester wrote:well said !!
Last edited by glennds on Fri Sep 18, 2020 11:16 am, edited 4 times in total.
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Re: When someone's opinion differs from yours...

Post by vnatale » Fri Sep 18, 2020 10:24 am

Simonjester wrote:well said !!


Yes! EXTREMELY well said!!

Above provided by: Vinny, who always says: "I only regret that I have but one lap to give to my cats." AND "I'm a more-is-more person."
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Re: When someone's opinion differs from yours...

Post by Smith1776 » Fri Sep 18, 2020 3:51 pm

O0

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Re: When someone's opinion differs from yours...

Post by Smith1776 » Fri Sep 18, 2020 4:56 pm

Joking aside, I actually do care when the person I offend is on this forum because I actually care about this community.

If it's reddit I'm neutral. If it's the Knuckleheads forum I can't post anything without throwing shade on someone. It's pretty much a necessity. >:D
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