that so many of such varied backgrounds could get along so well.
I mentioned to another member just the other day about why I love it here. A myriad of opinions with little to no retribution or ongoing ill will.
Very rare.

in an other wise turbulent tempest once again. I want your meds.

is always worth it. Because it lands on an understanding that we're mostly all coming from the right place, rendering it safe, sound and rewarding in the end. Thanks for pointing this out, CStMS, and all of your cogent points throughout, as usual.

I like that we keep hammering away at this. It's the best way to get the clearest understanding of a situation that has many layers to it.

Thanks to aliasalias for excepting from this Democracy Now segment in another essay tonight. The segment was with a reformed white supremacist who formed an organization called "Life After Hate," a nonprofit helping people disengage from hate and violent extremism.

I think this sums up a lot of what we're discussing today, which to me is empathy and seeing the Big Picture, which is always "what kind of society do you want to live in?," and realizing people are fundamentally the same in so many respects:

...our approach is to work with people in a compassionate and empathetic way and to listen to what they have to say, instead of arguing with them ideologically or pushing them further away.

And what I listen for are these things that I call potholes—what existed in their path that deviated it. And then, my job becomes to fill those potholes, whether it’s job training or life coaching or tattoo removal or mental health therapy.

And what happens inevitably is, when people are more equipped, understand what they’re dealing with internally, they don’t necessarily need to blame somebody else for what they feel is being taken away from them, because now they’re more resilient and they’re more able to compete and they’re more self-confident.

However, I do challenge their ideology, as well, but not by debating. What I do is I introduce them to people that they think that they hate. And I’ve introduced Holocaust deniers to Holocaust survivors, Islamophobes to imams and Muslim families to have family dinner. And it’s those types of connections, those opportunities to humanize, that really bring people back, because people join these groups because they’re out searching for something that they’re not getting in their real life."

So I bid you all good night with this. And say, when all else fails, use humor, music, breaking bread, art, a smile, a friendly gesture, an affirming nod, and wit to defuse - sometimes a sousaphone:

Place to be. Free and independent thought flourishes here. It doesn't get sat in a corner.