Are opposing points of view beneficial?

riley540

Hello all! 

My my name is Riley, I am 22 years old and fell in love with Pearl Jam my sophomore year of high school. Beyond the music I love the passion that the guys have for things they believe in, even though I’m not on board with every single thing, I admire their passion and grace in spreading their messages. 
I don’t think it’s any mystery that the Pearl Jam fan base is left leaning when it comes to political and social issues. I think I see one guy on here that constantly puts forward a more center/right View. I also see a lot of people lose their tempers, thus dismantling civil conversation. I come from a family of Republicans. My mom is a Republican, my aunts and uncles, my grand parents, they are all Republicans. When I was young, I was brought up this way. Even though I don’t label myself as republican now, I believe that they are good people, and if s republican and a Democrat can talk to each other, true progression can occure. I am a believer that progression starts in the neighborhoods, and I wish things could be civil. 
I think listening to each other is really the only shot we have at making the world a better place. My aunt is a liberal, all the way. I love her to death and often travel with her to go see different concerts. She’s one of my favorite people in the world. My grandpa is my hero. I’ve learned more from this man than anybody else. He is as republican as they come. I remember in middle school he would loan me his books by Bill o’reilly. Ha!! But my point is that they are both two of my favorite people. 
In a sea of left leaning people, I call myself a right leaning independent. I love reading the boards and trying to enguage in conversation. I want everyone to know I’m a super nice person and Love discussion and friendly debate. I think progression can truly start in a place like this. It’s easy to throw jabs and insults when we have the wall of the internet to protect us. 

Lets keep the conversations going! Someday we are going to all bump into one another at a show and have a killer time together! 

PJ_Soul

It's not about them being Conservatives. It's about how those who are in the AMT tend to also be inflammatory trolls. I think most of us would welcome some Conservatives who aren't like that. I know that many of us have plenty of Conservative family members.

Annafalk

I think it's important that everyone can feel free to express themselves, the discussions get more interesting also. (As long as no one is mean.)

JimmyV

I think it goes without saying that opposing points of view are beneficial. It's true that we have fewer conservative voices around here, but we do have several who lean right on some issues and left on others. There is plenty of room for anyone who has something constructive to add.

tbergs

The only area I see a pile and where discussion is almost impossible is support of Trump. You're not going to find much of that and if you do be prepared to defend from all sides.  All other topics around here have us pretty well divided and for the most part it stays civil.

All in all, nice post Riley. It's not always easy to being openly personal on these boards. I know we don't agree on every issue, but I appreciate the back and forth. 

dankind

https://youtu.be/29E6GbYdB1c