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Contrarian?
March 4, 2024 at 8:05 pm
Just wondered how many people here identify with the label "contrarian" - meaning a person who tends to reject or oppose popular opinion.
This tendency of mine drove my parents mad - my mother would actually say "You would argue with Jesus Christ if he were here."
I have always defended unpopular opinions and people. This works against me especially in the shallow world of social media (I recently posted a New Yorker article "The Case Against Travel" and achieved 0 likes!!!! A record even for me).
That said I don't usually argue just for argument's sake. I'm not a troll. I just try to see things differently.
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RE: Contrarian?
March 4, 2024 at 8:12 pm
I am more against the rules of an institution than the subjective thoughts of individuals.
"Never trust a fox. Looks like a dog, behaves like a cat."
~ Erin Hunter
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RE: Contrarian?
March 4, 2024 at 8:27 pm
I’ve been accused by a certain member here (who shall remain nameless) of being a contrarian. I rejected the label utterly, of course.
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
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RE: Contrarian?
March 4, 2024 at 8:44 pm
I only reject what you say because I am right, and you are wrong.
Sorry, not sorry.
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RE: Contrarian?
March 4, 2024 at 10:08 pm
(This post was last modified: March 4, 2024 at 10:10 pm by Jillybean.)
[/quote]
I speak my mind. I'm not beholden to agreement or disagreement, I simply speak my mind and let the chips fall as they may.
I recently heard an interview with the author of that anti-travel piece. Her opinions seemed a little off, to me, but I'm probably biased, having traveled a bit in my life. Living in foreign countries was the most eye-opening experience of my life.
[/quote]
Did you actually read her article? I don't necessarily agree with it all but found it to be a refreshing change from the common rhetoric around travel. I do think actually living in a foreign country is different from the kind of travel she was talking about. I have known a lot of people who liked to go to touristy destinations and spend a ton of money having fun and justify it as "mind expanding" when the real reason seems to be self indulgence and consumerism. I mean I am obviously biased as well because after my Dad left our family he loved to go on several tropical vacations each year (he loved hot places) and sent us postcards. I admired his glamorous lifestyle but only years later thought about the fact that my younger brother and I didn't have enough food to eat at that time, or decent clothing for school. He also didn't pay for us to attend college, even though he himself had a degree and his parents paid for his schooling. So I guess lounging on all those beaches in Bermuda and the Bahamas wasn't "eye opening" for him.
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RE: Contrarian?
March 4, 2024 at 10:35 pm
I read that article some time ago. Travel per se is not some mind-opening experience. Where we go and what we do matters in my estimation. Even living abroad is no guarantee of said experience. I see people here who are trying their damnedest to recreate their American or Canadian life here, with the same values and ignorance they brought with them.
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RE: Contrarian?
March 4, 2024 at 10:55 pm
Some what contrary (aren't all skeptics?), also non compliant at times. Even when accepting/complying I'll often take tangents.
Being told you're delusional does not necessarily mean you're mental.
