Would someone's extreme political views prevent you being in a band with them, or working with them?

[tegs07]

18 minutes ago, kiat said:

If this thread does not harm relationships between any number of basschatters, it'll be a miracle.

As long as people are polite and respectful there should be no problem. People have differences, they are flawed and nobody is perfect or invulnerable.

 

Times change, people change, attitudes change. 

 

There really has to be tolerance, respect and forgiveness or it is going to get really ugly out there.

 

One thing I would say about getting older is your world shrinks and things start to become more of a challenge than an opportunity. On the flip side I think people get more phlegmatic and possibly a little less certain about what is the right way to be.

I certainly see more capacity for forgiveness in the older generation. There is a slight tendency towards absolutism creeping into the world now.
 

Ideally I want to stay living in a city as I get older because being around many different cultures, ages, backgrounds, religions is a healthy and positive thing. It’s difficult to believe all of the fear mongers in the media and in power when you walk down the street and see most people are the same. They face the same challenges, breathe the same air, walk the same streets and go home to lives that have more similarities than differences to the home I go back to.

Edited 2 hours ago by tegs07

[EssexBuccaneer]

56 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

But would you seriously fall out with family members for having different opinions? 

I grew up in a political household, grandad was leader of the council and charged debates at gatherings was the norm. Fall-outs were regular and (usually) temporary. 
 

My folks voted for Brexit. They voted against the interests of themselves, their children and their own grandchildren despite myriad warnings and bundles of evidence telling them that was the case. That’s not something that should be brushed off IMO. 
 

Mayhap i have unusual views on ‘family’ as I don’t buy this thing that ‘there’s nothing more important than family’ - it’s a mindless trope IMO

[WinterMute]

41 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

I frequently visibly wince at large gatherings of the oldies. I suspect that you would explode.

 

I have to remind myself that they grew up in a different time and place and even the most enlightened and educated amongst them use terms that are now outdated and not appropriate.

 

They are not evil people though.

 

Old people can't change their minds?

 

My 85 year old mother, a lifelong unquestioning Tory voter, will never vote for them again after seeing the mess they've made of the county. Being old is no excuse, neither is being young or uneducated or poor or rich, Bigotry is born in ignorance and grows in darkness, it poisons young and old alike.

 

Drag it into the light and kill it.

[WinterMute]

36 minutes ago, kiat said:

If this thread does not harm relationships between any number of basschatters, it'll be a miracle.

 

Hopefully not, but sometimes it happens. Discussion from opposing viewpoints in good faith is not a bad thing, provided the arguments are engaged with honestly.

 

We can agree to disagree about almost anything, given good faith, bigotry and more especially fascism does not operate in good faith.

[WinterMute]

35 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

As long as people are polite and respectful there should be no problem. People have differences, they are flawed and nobody is perfect or invulnerable.

 

Times change, people change, attitudes change. 

 

There really has to be tolerance, respect and forgiveness or it is going to get really ugly out there.

 

One thing I would say about getting older is your world shrinks and things start to become more of a challenge than an opportunity. On the flip side I think people get more phlegmatic and possibly a little less certain about what is the right way to be.

I certainly see more capacity for forgiveness in the older generation. There is a slight tendency towards absolutism creeping into the world now.
 

Ideally I want to stay living in a city as I get older because being around many different cultures, ages, backgrounds, religions is a healthy and positive thing. It’s difficult to believe all of the fear mongers in the media and in power when you walk down the street and see most people are the same. They face the same challenges, breathe the same air, walk the same streets and go home to lives that have more similarities than differences to the home I go back to.

 

There's an interesting theory about young intelligence verses old intelligence, the former is a fluid, changeable and learning form and the latter is a crystallised, change resistant and learns slowly if at all. The theory posits that the longer you can remain in the fluid form by learning and challenging yourself, the better your mind and health will be in old age. Given the number of old musicians I know who are still inquisitive and keen to learn I think this is close to the truth. 

[Wombat]

No we can't! You definitely do NOT need more than 4 strings!

[EliasMooseblaster]

20 minutes ago, WinterMute said:

 

There's an interesting theory about young intelligence verses old intelligence, the former is a fluid, changeable and learning form and the latter is a crystallised, change resistant and learns slowly if at all. The theory posits that the longer you can remain in the fluid form by learning and challenging yourself, the better your mind and health will be in old age. Given the number of old musicians I know who are still inquisitive and keen to learn I think this is close to the truth. 

I can see the sense in this. Unfortunately the oft-misunderstood adage that "wisdom comes with age" leads a lot of people to calcify their views and positions and expect people to respect their "wisdom" just because they're older.

 

I much prefer Frank Zappa's adage that "your mind is like a parachute. It's no good if you don't open it."

[tauzero]

11 minutes ago, EliasMooseblaster said:

I can see the sense in this. Unfortunately the oft-misunderstood adage that "wisdom comes with age" leads a lot of people to calcify their views and positions and expect people to respect their "wisdom" just because they're older.

 

I much prefer Frank Zappa's adage that "your mind is like a parachute. It's no good if you don't open it."

 

"An open mind is all very well in its way, but it ought not to be so open that there is no keeping anything in or out of it." - Samuel Butler, author of "Erewhon".

[prowla]

1 hour ago, WinterMute said:

Not everyone whose planning on voting Reform is a racist bigot, but all the racist bigots will likely vote Reform.

 

I don't care if it is cuddly Uncle Albert, if he's a racist bigot who is incapable of changing his mind, he can f*ck off.

So long as it's not Uncle Ernie!

[prowla]

13 minutes ago, EliasMooseblaster said:

I can see the sense in this. Unfortunately the oft-misunderstood adage that "wisdom comes with age" leads a lot of people to calcify their views and positions and expect people to respect their "wisdom" just because they're older.

 

I much prefer Frank Zappa's adage that "your mind is like a parachute. It's no good if you don't open it."

But an open mind shouldn't be an empty mind.

[prowla]

1 hour ago, Jackroadkill said:

Can we just agree that punching downwards isn't a good thing?

I've not heard that term before - every day's an education (to someone with an open mind).

[JapanAxe]

I played on the country music club circuit for a few years, and the target audience was mainly  70+ with the kind of outlook that you might predict. I joined a band where it became apparent that the drummer was very much of the persuasion (how can I put this?) ‘Stop the boats’. Now and then we’d work with another musician - let’s call him ‘Ken’ - who got frozen off Facebook for a month for his unsavoury comments about the adherents of a certain religion prevalent in North Africa and the Middle East. The band and WAGs were around a table in a break discussing an upcoming gig, and Mrs Axe asked, ‘Will racist Ken be playing?’ The drummer’s face was something to behold!

 

I’m aware that some musicians that I play with hold political opinions far removed from my own. The same goes for some members of my extended family. I didn’t know the musicians’ views before I started playing with them, and my family are my family come what may.

 

Online, it’s easy to end up in a bubble where we only hear our own views reflected back at us. In the real world I prefer to avoid that.

 

But if a band is looking for players on the basis of a particular world view that jars with me - for example conspiracy theories, which I’ve seen more than once - I’ll give it a miss.

[Stub Mandrel]

My dad, who died less than a year ago at 92, used to tell a story.

 

When his brother was a baby and he was about 12, a minister who was visiting the parish called round. My grandmother offered him the baby to hold, and while he was holding my uncle, he started crying. It was the first time he'd ever been offered to hold a white baby.

 

Old people grew up in a time of casual racism, but not all old people are racists.

[TimR]

2 hours ago, tegs07 said:

Oi Grandad you may be 87, an ex steelworker who saw action during the Suez Crisis but frankly your views on gender identity and pronouns are unacceptable?

 

He would have been 30 when private acts of homosexuality were decriminalised.

 

I can understand why people over 60 have such entrenched views. 

 

Note: The actual law wasn't repealed until 2013! Up until then you could still be imprisoned for life for certain practices. 

 

It's going to be another 50 years before people will accept Gender and Sex are different and that both are not Binary. Science is slowly discovering how it all fits together, but while the politicians are in charge, it's going to be popular opinion and 'feelings' that determine the outcome of any debates, not the science and logic. The likes of Piers Morgan and LBC aren't going the help as they make a living by causing division.

 

 

 

 

Edited 33 minutes ago by TimR