People sometimes ask me, "Craig, do you have any hobbies?" I usually answer by saying, "Apart from reading and occasionally writing, I enjoy social media as a way to try to connect with people of all stripes and hopefully be a voice for truth, goodness, and beauty."
Inevitably, the follow-up question (accompanied with a smile) goes something like this: "So, how's that going for you?"
Despite years of hoping for the best, after a conversation I had with a younger friend on Twitter today, I may be done. Here's the transcript (read to the end; in the meantime, Peaches has agreed to be my partner in our new hobby of competitive dog grooming - she thinks she can make me a star).
Friend: "Genuinely asking: what kind of alternative reality do conservatives live in? Like, is it special drugs they give out at right-wing churches or subliminal messages from watching Fox?"
Me: "I'll probably regret this, but if you're genuinely asking, this conservative (who doesn't attend a right-wing church, nor watch Fox News) sees people's lives and livelihoods being violently destroyed by people who seem to want to watch the world burn. Are you okay with this?"
Friend: "I live in [one of the three cities designated "anarchist jurisdictions" today by Attorney General William Barr] and not seeing a whole lot of violent destruction. Curious what your sources are? Periodic rioting and looting (which at least in [city] has abated significantly) is also vastly different from being an 'anarchist jurisdiction.'"
Me: "You didn't answer my question."
Friend: "I guess I’ll consider the red herring: Am I upset by livelihoods being destroyed? Of course I am. We should all be concerned by livelihoods being destroyed, but that should be the bar. Insured companies having to deal with a claims adjuster does not meet that bar imo. To be fair, you didn’t answer any of my questions either."
Me: "As to sources, let's follow the money. The fact that estimates are in the billions of damage done while news agencies like CNN and others report that protests were 'mostly peaceful' should give a little perspective. Are you saying that's not a big deal because they're insured?
I'm not trying to avoid your questions, nor is my question to you a red herring as there is often little empathy in your posts. If you're saying that insured companies having to deal with the 'hassle' of rebuilding their destroyed business is acceptable, I'm dumbfounded.”
Friend: "Where are you seeing 'billions of dollars in damage' from protests? Again, what’s the source? What dumbfounds me is that people cry out about sporadic looting, but be completely mum on corporate looting that destroys livelihoods every day. As just one example..." (posts graph)
Me: (posts another graph) “This only goes through June. So, in light of the corporate looting, are you saying the protest looting is justified?"
Friend: "Rioting can be justified. Whether each individual act of looting is justified is not a question I’m in a position to answer. What I can say, though, is that if this is the cost of reforms that reduce the number of summary police executions, it will have been worth it.
Also important to recognize that the cost is amplified by the widespread nature of the protests. Singling out three cities when protests happened in 140 cities across the nation is perplexing."
Me: "So looting is justified. Got it."
Friend: "This is worth reading, even if you disagree." (posts article)
Me: "Sorry, but you lost me at the title ('In Defense of Looting'). I wonder if you would feel differently if your home or business was in the path of the next round of looting?"
Friend: "Ah, a classic argumentum ad passiones. Impossible to say, because that’s not reality. Is that the secret to my reality question? Conservatives imagine themselves besieged by potential looters?"
Me: "It's not an impossible (nor invalid) question to answer - just one you won't answer because it might reveal something that goes beyond politics and deals with your humanity."
Friend: "You in no way have a monopoly on 'humanity.' Your concern in our discussion is dollar figures and property damage, not the actual destruction of human life that prompted the property damage. Doesn’t seem very 'humanity' focused."
Me: "Dollar figures and property damage affect and are very much a part of human life; we do not live as gnostics without physicality or possessions, nor does doing so negate concern for other aspects of justice or care for people that you unfairly accuse me of dismissing."
Friend: "As to whether I’d react differently if it was my property, I hope I wouldn’t. I hope I’d react like the car dealership owner in Minneapolis who, after his cars were burnt, said something to the effect of, 'Those are just cars. We support the fight for justice.' That is a humanity centered response, imo."