Max Kepler and the Cost of Silence

 If I can get through with that message to but a few people, I will have accomplished something. 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you aren't spreading the message.  Seriously, scientifically, you are not.  At least not the way that you want.  You are only "spreading" your message by making people more resistant to it.  The kind of things that you are doing (blocking traffic, attacking people who do things differently than you want, using inflammatory language - and check the comments, clearly your language was inflammatory, whether or not you meant it to be) have been proven to have a negative effect on both changing minds and also enacting societal change.  You will not change minds based on how you are acting, and in fact you are making it less likely that people will do the things that you want.

If someone doesn't like speaking out, then they will be even less likely to consider speaking out as a result of your tactics.  

If someone is neutral for speaking out, they will be less likely to speak out as a result of your tactics.

The only thing that you might do is make someone that was already leaning toward speaking out somewhat more likely to speak out even more.  Also you will feel better about yourself (as you hurt what you are professing to try to help). 

Here is a source on that:

https://www.psypost.org/2020/05/new-psychology-research-finds-extreme-protest-actions-reduce-popular-support-for-social-movements-56906?fbclid=IwAR0dXw0ft4J_iu-o33nxd0jzC5Dq6i6ARBhSQFHkDAFEqDa8yJVVUd8UKFw

For a particularly relevant example, the article spells out how democrats push people away from, e.g., voting for democrats because of the way that they attack Trump.  Did you know that lots of democrats are actually helping Trump by the way in which they attack Trump, by making independents not want to associate with the democrats?  That's a heckuva backfire. 

You aren't changing the mind of anyone who thinks differently than you do.  To do that, you need to humbly think about the views of other people, not attack them, and respect their viewpoints, even while you point out why you strongly strongly disagree.  Look to MLK and how he talked to various white pastors who told him to be more "patient" as he waited for social change.  A (in retrospect) despicable thing that they were asking, to be clear.  Yet in his replies he was always overly courteous, going to great lengths to emphasize how he did truly understand what they were doing what they were doing and asking what they were asking.  If a black man born in Georgia in 1929 can respect the viewpoints of opponents, so can you.  

What you are doing is purely being done for your sake, so that you feel good about yourself.  And that is fine!  It's good to take care of yourself, and make yourself happy in life.  If you want to do that by pretending that you are helping a cause by insulting people that disagree with you such that you actually hurt this cause, well, there are worse ways to spend your time.

That said, if you ACTUALLY want to convince people, then you need to do so respectfully, and you need to truly try to empathize with people that think differently rather than you do.  If you want to ACTUALLY make a difference, then start humanizing businessmen, bankers, suburbanites, the highly religious, rural white uneducated voters, or other people that are frequently on the opposite sides of the debate from you.  Try to understand these groups of people.  Try to understand and truly *feel* their hurts and fears and dreams, rather than dismiss them and ridicule them.  Once you understand these people that you disagree with, approach them on their level, rather than attacking them from yours.  I know that it feels better to just attack the viewpoints of people who believe different things, and to take fantastically bold actions to show just how strongly you feel (such as blocking traffic on I-35).  But you are actively making the things that you want to happen LESS likely to happen by what doing things in this way. 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you aren't spreading the message.  Seriously, scientifically, you are not.  At least not the way that you want.  You are only "spreading" your message by making people more resistant to it.  The kind of things that you are doing (blocking traffic, attacking people who do things differently than you want, using inflammatory language - and check the comments, clearly your language was inflammatory, whether or not you meant it to be) have been proven to have a negative effect on both changing minds and also enacting societal change.  You will not change minds based on how you are acting, and in fact you are making it less likely that people will do the things that you want.

 

If someone doesn't like speaking out, then they will be even less likely to consider speaking out as a result of your tactics.  

If someone is neutral for speaking out, they will be less likely to speak out as a result of your tactics.

The only thing that you might do is make someone that was already leaning toward speaking out somewhat more likely to speak out even more.  Also you will feel better about yourself (as you hurt what you are professing to try to help). 

 

Here is a source on that:

https://www.psypost.org/2020/05/new-psychology-research-finds-extreme-protest-actions-reduce-popular-support-for-social-movements-56906?fbclid=IwAR0dXw0ft4J_iu-o33nxd0jzC5Dq6i6ARBhSQFHkDAFEqDa8yJVVUd8UKFw

 

For a particularly relevant example, the article spells out how democrats push people away from, e.g., voting for democrats because of the way that they attack Trump.  Did you know that lots of democrats are actually helping Trump by the way in which they attack Trump, by making independents not want to associate with the democrats?  That's a heckuva backfire. 

 

You aren't changing the mind of anyone who thinks differently than you do.  To do that, you need to humbly think about the views of other people, not attack them, and respect their viewpoints, even while you point out why you strongly strongly disagree.  Look to MLK and how he talked to various white pastors who told him to be more "patient" as he waited for social change.  A (in retrospect) despicable thing that they were asking, to be clear.  Yet in his replies he was always overly courteous, going to great lengths to emphasize how he did truly understand what they were doing what they were doing and asking what they were asking.  If a black man born in Georgia in 1929 can respect the viewpoints of opponents, so can you.  

 

What you are doing is purely being done for your sake, so that you feel good about yourself.  And that is fine!  It's good to take care of yourself, and make yourself happy in life.  If you want to do that by pretending that you are helping a cause by insulting people that disagree with you such that you actually hurt this cause, well, there are worse ways to spend your time.

 

That said, if you ACTUALLY want to convince people, then you need to do so respectfully, and you need to truly try to empathize with people that think differently rather than you do.  If you want to ACTUALLY make a difference, then start humanizing businessmen, bankers, suburbanites, the highly religious, rural white uneducated voters, or other people that are frequently on the opposite sides of the debate from you.  Try to understand these groups of people.  Try to understand and truly *feel* their hurts and fears and dreams, rather than dismiss them and ridicule them.  Once you understand these people that you disagree with, approach them on their level, rather than attacking them from yours.  I know that it feels better to just attack the viewpoints of people who believe different things, and to take fantastically bold actions to show just how strongly you feel (such as blocking traffic on I-35).  But you are actively making the things that you want to happen LESS likely to happen by what doing things in this way. 

Research also shows the longer and louder the protest the more likely for success 

Where is the outrage on this site over a black man killing a white police officer up here in Grand Forks ND a week ago?

 Where is the outrage over millions of babies being murdered in this country over the past almost 50 years?

This should have stayed Twins Daily and kept the topics to baseball. Now you have division where it wasn't before. Good job.

It always seems like people have extra vitriol when sports stars/analysts/bloggers comment on anything other than sports. The anger in these comments reflects that. I certainly respect those who don't want to read this article. But scroll past it if that's the case.

Or musicians.....

This is one of those uncommon cases where there's a right way to look at it, and a stupid way.

I’m curious, Bill. What is the “it” you think is being argued about? Can you define the thing that is being debated? Or can you tell me the two positions (the right one and the stupid one).

Tell me as if you’re explaining it to a child. (That sounds snarky, but that’s not my intent. I just mean to put the “it” in the most clear terms you can.)

Max Kepler's parents were ballet dancers.

 

Pretty much the same thing as military, I understand, but the uniforms are quite different.

Someone else explained something about his mom’s dad being military, but I quote this post only because the last sentence is major league funny.

The comments in this thread so perfectly illustrate why this article was necessary.

The fact that so many of you think it’s acceptable to escape world issues whenever convenient is exactly the point of Nick’s article.

We need to be better than this.

 

Let's not escape issues. Let's address them head on. I'm going to introduce you to Larry Elder. Please take the time to watch his 5 minute video and watch the clip of the interview with the "classic liberal" Dave Rubin. After viewing, please let me know: Which points that he made are incorrect. I submit this because you challenged us not to escape, and I'm challenging you to look beyond your world view. You, Nick, and any other site owners that agree with Nicks column. Thank you in advance for viewing these.

 

https://www.prageru.com/video/black-america-needs-fathers/

 

"Because you don't understand technology". Not sure why there's a jab but OK. I'm not as well versed on technology as you. Whaddya gonna do. I can take you on a pool table or in foosball. 

Outside of that. My request was... Which of his points are incorrect? I'll gladly go back and forth with videos and pick them apart if you'd like. I'd just like you to go first.

"Stop living with your bias". You unfortunately don't have authorization to tell me to get rid of anything, nor I you. You have your own bias and instead of using a condescending tone of arrogance I'm challenging you by giving you alternate views and maybe you'll pick up a different way of thinking about an issue. 

Listen to what community? There are a lot of communities in MN. There are a lot of smaller communities within those communities. 

In 1972 a reporter couldn't understand how Richard Nixon won in a landslide. That reporter said, "I don't know anyone who voted for him." You are in your own community. If you've noticed the comments on Nick's article you'll find not everyone agrees with your community. 

I came into this with no hostility and the sole intention of hearing and sharing different viewpoints. The choice is yours.

By the way, and again not to diminish law enforcement, but they are not a uniquely dangerous job. From FBI data: "89 law enforcement officers were killed in line-of-duty incidents in 2019". There are approximately 700,000 US law enforcement officers.

 

By contrast, there were, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 142 on the job fatalities, for "First-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers," coming from a workforce of around 100,000. That put them #10 on the list of most dangerous; you can consult the link I provided to see a list of the other 9 above that.

Imagine the outrage if Kepler would have worn a lawn service mask.

Please tell me exactly what is so offensive about my post. The fact I’m mad that we’ve made so little progress in the past 55 years?

The human race needs to improve.

https://twitter.com/NFrechen/status/1267968108314099714?s=20

I cannot see a single reason why a Minnesotan would be against police reform after Castile, Damond, and Floyd happening within a 3-4 year period.

If you had to guess off the top of your head, how many commenters in this thread think there’s no cause for reform? Or what percentage if that’s easier.

The point is that if you listen to 100 black people, they'll tell you a pretty unified story. 

Picking a single black person who confirms your belief structure isn't exactly honest or useful.

Nick Nelson quoted one person - Chris Cuomo. Because he quoted him that was useful? OK. What's the magic # of people I should get because there are plenty. I used one very educated man as a reference and his points are what matters. Not how many people make points. If you don't want to address the points he makes that is fine. I understand because his arguments cannot be dismantled. So either you refused to watch the videos which means you refuse to get rid of your bias or you watched the videos and you know that every argument he makes is true.

Well, the person who posted right above you is a pretty good candidate.

Let’s ask him.

But also, I’m looking for your total or percentage guess. Because I would guess it is a remarkably low number, and the feeling I got (from the earlier post of yours that I quoted) is that you might think it’s a large number. I’m trying to establish whether my interpretation is correct or if I’m missing your intended meaning.

Please tell me exactly what is so offensive about my post. The fact I’m mad that we’ve made so little progress in the past 55 years?

I think you are not being intellectually honest. You say we made so little progress in 55 years? I call BS. Exhibit 1: We elected and reelected a black man as President. He stirred up old racial animosities and that hurt the country. But a racist country does not elect him. Period..

55 years ago we had some blacks playing baseball, basketball and football. Now we have many blacks in those sports.

55 years ago we didn't have many blacks in Congress, the Senate or in Governors offices. You can't say that now.

In order to say there has been little progress, you have to ignore reality. We made great progress, until Obama. He set us back by stirring up racial divisions. .  

The point is that if you listen to 100 black people, they'll tell you a pretty unified story. 

Picking a single black person who confirms your belief structure isn't exactly honest or useful.

I disagree with that comment. Not all blacks thing alike. To say they all do is a racist and invalid generalization.  Its as wrong a comment as "If you don't vote Biden then you ain't black"

Last I checked, people still think with their brain, not their skin (color). 

I think you are not being intellectually honest. You say we made so little progress in 55 years? I call BS. Exhibit 1: We elected and reelected a black man as President. He stirred up old racial animosities and that hurt the country. But a racist country does not elect him. Period..

 

55 years ago we had some blacks playing baseball, basketball and football. Now we have many blacks in those sports.

 

55 years ago we didn't have many blacks in Congress, the Senate or in Governors offices. You can't say that now.

 

In order to say there has been little progress, you have to ignore reality. We made great progress, until Obama. He set us back by stirring up racial divisions. .  

Do Explain.....  I can tell you this, I heard the N word at work 10 times more after he was elected than before.  I do recall a-holes calling Michelle an ape....