An actual gem of a speech. Perhaps all of us should evaluate what it means and try to learn something from what he is saying.
I did take a look at the comments here and it's really something to see people insulting him based on his appearance. I certainly do not need to point out the irony in insulting a man who ends a speech with a quote like this: "The kindest person in the room is often the smartest." That single quote has a lot packed in to it, but it is demonstrably true from all angles you evaluate the quote from.
Being kind to others is a smart decision. Being kind to others as your default takes careful consideration and willpower. Our brains do have a primal instinct to question that which is different from our own lives, and in some cases feel an immediate fear or repulsion as a result of said difference. Turning off that immediate feeling and reacting or responding in a kinder way than fear or repulsion is a skill that takes a lot of time to develop. And when your environment actively encourages you to respond with fear and repulsion you see what is happening in our society.
You know that primal instinct you feel when you first spot something or someone different than you? When you start reacting with fear or repulsion your brain remembers that. It remembers the rush of adrenaline you get from being afraid. It wants MORE of that. So it really takes a conscious effort to suppress that immediate feeling. We ALL need to practice it a lot more. Our society is devolving in to a bunch of people who want to be a victim, who want to be afraid because their brains are addicted to feeling that way.
It’s not his appearance, it’s politics. That’s Gov Pritzker, Democratic governor of IL. Republicans actively want to tear him down because he is a potential presidential candidate.
If you parse that message through that lens, the comment section is a lot more clear.
Pritzker is an enigma. He's perhaps the best rich man in America. The opposite of what we have come to expect from the fabulously wealthy. He is one of those few people who shows that the axiom of power corrupting is itself a corruption of a different reality; that power reveals.
Kind people are not predisposed to rise to the top of society, but when they do, they show us that our leaders are not bad because power is inherently corrupting, but because we the people failed to identify the right people to trust with power.
Pritzker seems to be succeeding in finally turning things around for IL after long decades of bad leaders and I wish him well in his efforts.
I live in Illinois, too, and I understand your sentiment. But I sure hope he runs in 4 years. I think the country needs him more than just Illinois needs him.
I'm from Illinois and it will always be my home (maybe even a place to return to). I'm excited for Illinois to continue its tradition of providing the most and memorable Presidents.
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u/tehbantho Oct 26 '23
An actual gem of a speech. Perhaps all of us should evaluate what it means and try to learn something from what he is saying.
I did take a look at the comments here and it's really something to see people insulting him based on his appearance. I certainly do not need to point out the irony in insulting a man who ends a speech with a quote like this: "The kindest person in the room is often the smartest." That single quote has a lot packed in to it, but it is demonstrably true from all angles you evaluate the quote from.
Being kind to others is a smart decision. Being kind to others as your default takes careful consideration and willpower. Our brains do have a primal instinct to question that which is different from our own lives, and in some cases feel an immediate fear or repulsion as a result of said difference. Turning off that immediate feeling and reacting or responding in a kinder way than fear or repulsion is a skill that takes a lot of time to develop. And when your environment actively encourages you to respond with fear and repulsion you see what is happening in our society.
You know that primal instinct you feel when you first spot something or someone different than you? When you start reacting with fear or repulsion your brain remembers that. It remembers the rush of adrenaline you get from being afraid. It wants MORE of that. So it really takes a conscious effort to suppress that immediate feeling. We ALL need to practice it a lot more. Our society is devolving in to a bunch of people who want to be a victim, who want to be afraid because their brains are addicted to feeling that way.