[ExI] Fascist America in 10 Easy Steps

[James Clement]

Lee Corbin writes


> That seems quite right to me.  But what do you think is behind their
> having "such [aberrant] beliefs", if anything?  That is, what caused them
> to have unusual beliefs and not you or me?  I'd like to know your
> opinion.


Check out Social Anthropology:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_anthropology

A lot of people make what they believe are intelligent statements about the
thoughts and motivations of other people.  But, IMHO, if you want to learn
why other people think the way they do, you have to put yourself in their
position (if not literally, then at least figuratively).  That is, if you
cannot walk in their shoes, then at least read and listen to what they are
exposed to.  Your framework will never be identical (for one thing your
brain is imprinted differently by your environment), but it will help you
understand and empathize with their viewpoints.

I'm sure some individuals on this list can tell you that not every
"conspiracy theory" is a paranoid delusion - take the case of a Church
ganging up on an outsider and trying to have him imprisoned or murdered.  It
would be easy to scoff at such a story.  To the people who experience such,
their particular viewpoint is forever changed, and may now be "aberrant"
(i.e., departing from the "norm"), but that does not make it incorrect.

James Clement