And while I've been trying to avoid political discussions with the right-winger at work (because the conversations go nowhere and really only serve to agitate me) I've gotten sucked in a couple times recently as well. And as predicted, goes nowhere, agitated, etc.
Thinking about it later, I think one of the elements that drives me up the wall with those of conservative leaning, and the libertarian side of things especially, is a complete lack of empathy. I'm by no means religious, and while I like to think of myself as a spiritual person, I don't think a general sense of empathy for others is a particularly uncommon trait. Just think of a situation and how you would feel on the other side of things, or think about how things would be for you if your life was somewhat different. Not all that out of the ordinary. But man, a lot of people I don't like to talk with anymore really, really don't seem to care about other people in the world around them. Or something I'm not grasping there. It just seems so... selfish? Entitled? I don't even know.
Not going anywhere with this, just have to get it off my chest so I can go on with my life.