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When the cities burn, they will be part of the mountains of skulls.

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QFT

Oregon has changed. The population of the cities out-vote us rural folk all the time.

There is a good chance that next election will give Oregon a Democratic Super-majority in both houses of the legislature. At that point, our goose will be fully cooked.

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As I've aged, I've dumped a lot of old friends who's values and ideals no longer align with mine. I have no use for societies leeches and those who want to reach into my wallet and pay for it.

Some 'get it'' and some don't. All I know is that my life is less stressful without them and I don't have to listen to them gawp and blather on about some POS liberal who will save us all.

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I do see the Balkanization of this Country some time down the road.

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As I've aged, I've dumped a lot of old friends who's values and ideals no longer align with mine. I have no use for societies leeches and those who want to reach into my wallet and pay for it.



Some 'get it'' and some don't. All I know is that my life is less stressful without them and I don't have to listen to them gawp and blather on about some POS liberal who will save us all.

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Hey Just like CO

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I do see the Balkanization of this Country some time down the road.

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TL; DR - I spent several years in New England, met a bunch of NE folks, have remained friends. Recently, I've discovered that the gulf between us is not measured in miles, but ideas.


I grew up in a small town in Oregon. We had sheep, a large garden (not a farm) and a barn. I learned the rules about guns early on, but never thought much about them. (I did have one rule breaking issue when I was young) Anyhow, we shot at targets with 22's, hunted for ducks and chukar with our shotguns, had bb gun fights, hiked and fished and camped.

As far as I knew, it was a normal childhood.

After high-school I ended up with an great opportunity to attend a fancy east-coast university, so I jumped at the chance. I was thrown in with a bunch of guys who'd grown up in large cities, had attended prep schools, and who had spent three whole weeks outdoors every summer at something they called sleep-away-camp. I made a bunch of new friends.

I didn't have a gun in college, and frankly, it didn't even occur to me to have one. But, I introduced my friends to long backpacking trips, camping and fishing. They took me to NYC and Boston and Washington DC and showed me around. it was a great trade off. Politics rarely came up, and at the time few of us were paying attention enough to really understand politics anyway.

We were generally registered to vote in our home states, and were members of our parents' political party. We were too busy chasing girls to worry about politics. Frankly, I think our priorities were just right at the time!

Recently, we had a reunion of sorts. There were a dozen of us, gathered for the wedding of one of our buddies. (As an aside, getting married for the first time in your late 40's seems like a terrible idea) We all had time to hang out and talk.

Out of the dozen of us, nine are on the east-coast (all New England/New York/DC) and three in the West. Of those 12 people, 10 are die-hard Democrats. Me and the guy getting married are the only non-D's in the group. All of these folks are at least reasonably successful. One guy from NYC probably makes 3-4 million per year (investment banker), and one guy from SFO pulls down at least a million. I'd also submit that they are not stupid, at least not intellectually stupid.

Cutting to the chase here, since we've got the Bundy saga east of me in Oregon, and the election season shenanigans going on in general, politics came up quite a bit. At first, I just ignored it and tried to enjoy speaking with old friends. But the more they said, the more I figured they were either crazy or trolling me. It became apparent that they were NOT trolling me.

As an example, one of them asked me if I still thought guns were okay, "even now, what with ALL these mass shootings..."  I tried to use logic. That got nowhere. He can't believe I'd be willing to keep a gun in my house. I offered to have him visit, bring his kids, go shooting. You'd think I just offered to screw his wife the way he responded. NO CHANCE he'd let his kid anywhere near a gun. Never, ever. They are evil. I suggested that a little safety instruction would go a long way, and that he and kid might even enjoy it.

Others jumped in to the discussion. They have swallowed the "Guns Kill People" mantra, hook, line and sinker. It is not the fault of the assholes wielding the gun, but the gun itself. I tried to make comparisons to other means of killing, and in those cases, it is apparently always the person's fault, not the implement of destruction.

Fortunately, the bride popped in and moved the discussion in another direction, but later, it was restarted. I was totally  outnumbered. I did my best, but got nowhere. It was really odd. I mean, I've read this stuff, but never seen it in person. The level of hatred for guns, and gun owners is really weird. I asked if they thought I was a danger because I own a double barreled shot-gun. They all said no, but that I should not be able to store it at home, only at a "licensed, approved" range. Whatever that means.

Next came taxes and Bernie. That conversation was even more insane. Here are people who are all targets of the D party tax increases, wanting to elect him. I kept asking about theft at gunpoint (tax) and no one got it.

I asked about the big issues - deficit spending, both establishment parties ownership by the so-called donors. No one cares. They are motivated by wedge issues, god, guns, gays & immigration.

What really blew me away is the outright support for Bernie and Hillary. These people are not saying they will vote for them if they are the nominee because they won't vote "R", they are seriously excited about them as candidates.

I am sad. I seriously don't think I can hang out with them all as a group again. The gang-bang was just too much.


I am not looking for advice, just commenting that the divide between Liberal and Conservative is huge. If I can't talk to (close?) friends I've known for 30 years, the system is doomed.



***I am usually a better writer, but wanted to vent and get this off my chest before I forget.

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To add on to what I posted...... Before & After Reynolds v. Sims


http://www.onevoter.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2015/08/1951SD.jpg


http://www.onevoter.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2015/08/1966SD.jpg