[FRIAM] cracking cosmic eggs (was: capitalism vs. individualism)

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Well, to be clear, I have no trouble engaging people outside any of my categories. I even "code switch" subconsciously, especially when hanging out with my old crowd of right wing white trash back in Texas. The problem isn't engaging. The problem is cracking their cosmic eggs [†].

And I definitely do NOT share your reticence about cracking others' eggs without first cracking my own. This is the heart of *we*. My friends most likely know me better than I know myself. And I believe it's *their* duty to crack my egg as often as they can and vice versa. To *wait* until you have no chance of being a hypocrite before you act is a form of "analysis paralysis" ... or more pretentiously: the perfect is the enemy of the good.

[†] And it's really *only* with respect to particular political issues. I've cracked many of their eggs regarding abortion and gun control with various arguments from biology and ... of all things ... Aristotle's 4 types of cause, respectively. But I simply cannot crack any w.r.t. to Trump. I think it's partly because Trump disgusts me so much. It's difficult to empathize with his supporters. I did have some success in my recent trip to England, though. There was a Brexiteer I *may* have cracked at least a bit with my discussion of Trump and BoJo. I'll never see that guy again... so who knows?

On 11/11/19 10:37 PM, Prof David West wrote:
> Perhaps it is my training as a cultural anthropologist and ethnographer, but I have no trouble productively engaging is "ismists" of all persuasions, often in the same day. As an anthropologist I am pretty much an absolute cultural relativist and abhor ethnocentrism. Also, I would not presume to attempt to "crack open that layered chitin" of another until and unless I had shattered my own shell.

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