Have any of you lost friends over all this?

have only made friends.

but got some new, better ones.

"I have been sending them links to some of these things: economic collapse, concentration camps,
vote fraud, etc. They just think I am "way out there" and obsessed and overly paranoid."

There are many subjects you could send them links on, foreign policy, the Iraq war, the growth of entitlements, social security, the declining dollar, the hypocrisy of the GOP, the voting record of Ron Paul, income transfers, and the constitution. Those are subjects in which RP is a true winner, and arguments you will win. The subjects showed as examples by you are not cut and dry and could be put under the category "conspiracy theories." Perceptions are important and many potential RP supporters are turned off by a conspiracy under every rock. The links you mentioned would never turn me on to RP, but his voting record and positions would. Empahsize on RP and his positions.

I am a hypnotist, and we are fighting masterfully executed mass hypnosis. I think the thread title is "Do you wonder why they won't listen?"
While I am generally a cynical, sarcastic person, this is a genuine attempt to help people understand, and overcome, the effects of hypnosis.

no... havn't lost any friends but just frustrated that they cannot see the forest for the trees...

When I see social climbers and smug people who like to make fun of others, it reminds me of this funny song parody I have heard in the past on the radio. I don’t know who sung it but parts of the lyrics go something like:

Did you see me in that movie with the stars?
And did you see me hit that baseball up to Mars?
And I think you didn’t know it
But I bet you wouldn’t guess
That I designed the super jet

But my family, (except my brother, who will vote 3rd Party before voting McCain) thinks we have gone off the deep end, especially when I said "I'm so tired of feeling like I've voted for the lesser of two evils, I will vote third party before voting for McCain".'

Libera me, let the truth break, what my fears make--Leslie Phillips

apologize for straying from the 'acceptable' mindset, then tell them that you wanted to clean off the scum of playing with the Reprobate party, so you watched a great, but older ('87), Bill Moyers/pbs piece to do it with. Maybe then say how it all came back after watching that piece, and you would love to discuss what it was about with them.

If they can't bear to discuss the truth of our ongoing Constitutional Crisis, even though presented from an obviously leftist view complete with a Senator John Kerry appearance, you'll know they are automatons hopelessly enslaved by pop culture. If they do talk with you about it, there may be hope!

Personally, I moved to Wyoming ('05) in pursuit of greater freedoms of property, both land and posessions, like say, guns, for instance. It was hard to leave my roots behind, but only at first. I really wish I would have done this earlier.

I truly believe I would have taken a larger percentage of RP delegates to our (second smallest in WYO) county convention back in early January. The 24% we did have far exceeded any other candidates total, and only Mcain and Thompson had anybody stand for them! But, the system worked just as it was designed to do, and our county chair became the national delegate. I'm LOL because her pick dropped out. So, blah, blah, blah----I just wish you the best while you re-gain your bearings...I think it happens to all those who seek the truth.

here is the link
http://video.google.com/v...

THE MORE I LEARN ABOUT GOVERNMENT
THE MORE I LOVE MY GUNS
FourWindsTradingPost

double-post

:) Could you consider this?
http://www.dailypaul.com/...

Thank you so much!

I have gained a lot of new friends because of this revolution and have become closer to some of my old friends because of my passion for this revolution. I was a newly wed on 7/7/7 and three weeks ago I left him and will be filing for an annulment, because of my passion for ethics, morals and the truth none of which he possessed. I thank God for showing me the way and leading me to our revolution. As for the people I have known and new people I meet that do not feel the way I do, I do not force the issues I feel sorry for them and hope that one day they will wake up. I have learned your life is what you make it. Be Happy!

The great tragedy of Science - the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact.
- Thomas H. Huxley

I have lost some acquaintances and my friends (co-workers) think that I have gone off the deep end and am obsessed as well. And they are right...I am obsessed with Ron Paul and the R3volution....I am passionate about it....it is something that I believe in so very strongly....If the people in my life can't understand that and want to part ways....then I wish them all well. They don't have to agree with me, but if they are truely my friends then they will agree to disagree....

I know what you mean about sitting at the computer all the time...I do the same thing...my booty hurts from sitting on it so much....I get so caught up in the R3volution.....But it's worth every minute. We Must Fight for what We Believe in. I completely believe in Ron Paul and the R3volution....

Go Ron Go!
We CAN win

individuals who are RWA (ready, willing and able) to be responsible for themselves and family.

"Friends" who do not respect another's decision to be grown-up are not friends like real grown-ups are..

Go Ron Paul a real grown-up who knows what needs to be done unlike the the rest of the kids in the pack.

is owned by the NEA, and the CEA. He is a high school principal in Southern California. When I first emailed him some Ron Paul stuff, he said "I like that guy." Next thing I know, he is saying what a racist Ron Paul is, and that O'Bama is basicly the second coming. I sent him some YouTube videos-including the Freedom to fascism, and others. He sent me the pro-O'Bama stuff, and I basicly told him that I would take capitalism over socialism and communism any day. He responded by saying that I was the one that sent him "this garbage,"-regarding the constitution, etc, but he did wish me well. I have known this guy since I was 10 years old, but am ready to write him off as a friend. I love the guy like a brother, but it wouldn't bother me if I never speak to him again. I firmly believe that "liberalism is a mental disorder."

I have alienated some of my friends/acquaintances (for now) but have gained many more, both electronically and in-person since this has all begun. I would just keep your eyes peeled for others like us, to build those relationships with like-minded people.

But like another person said, feel the people you know for where they are at and talk to them at that level. Only bring them further a little at a time if they are ready. Truth is important, but some are not ready yet.

If you talk to your friends about things, talk to them from where they are at, not where you want them to be. Discuss the budget deficits, the unfunded future commitments, the Iraq war, the domestic spying, there are plenty of things to talk about that they will share an interest/belief system with you.

I did get mad at my sister, after talking to her for two days about RP she agreed with everything he was saying, and then she voted for Mitt Romney because she is a Mormon.

Free and Brave
or Cradle to Grave
You can't have both

your meetup should be planning the next steps!! DELEGATES DELEGATES DELEGATES... :D

I'm in an odd position, a woman without a state, so to speak. I'm a CO resident living in NC until May, so I've been forced to put my mother and sister to work for me there in CO. (tee hee) They went out on a sign wave today and got a good turnout--30-40 people or so, and a lot more honks than middle fingers. CO had their caucus on Super Tuesday, but even so, that meetup is training delegates and helping out the NM meetups by making calls. There's tons more work to be done! :D

But I know what you mean....it's hard being looked at like a freak when you try to tell the "unbelievers" the truth... but you are doing what is right--someday, they'll appreciate that.

In the meantime, you get to hang out with US!!! :D

Meetup groups aren't created to end. This fight isn't over. Call the people in your meetup group and start meeting up again. Ron Paul started this so we would all continue on. Even if only one person in your meetup group is as dedicated as you, meet with that one person and try to grow it into more people. Don't lose faith, I don't think any of us here at DP are going anywhere. Seriously you need to get your meetup groups back together to make local changes, hand out freedom to fascism cds, or whatever. Call your group members tomorrow. Keep up the great work!!!

to be a Ron Paul supporter we have to have courage under fire. Facing rejection from our friends is just the beginning.

Then they weren't really your friends.

I have been in this fight for over 20 years and I have very few friends. Fair weather friends suck. Join a gym or a club of some kind and find some new friends. Take up shooting it's a great stress reliever and you are more likely to find friends who share your concerns, plus its a good skill to have for the future and the possibility of hard times ahead..

The point is you can feel them out first and find out if they share some of your views before becoming closer with any of them.
--------------------------------------------------------
If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin. Samuel Adams

"The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy...You have to understand most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inert so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it." -- Morpheus

I have had the same experience as you but I take strength in my knowledge, I found this to be a very profound statement...."Think about what you allow yourself to know. Think about what you pass by; ignore, deny and defend ...that defines you. It defines the degree of your personal courage, your relationship to the truth, your values, your principles and what you will pass on to your children and everyone you meet. It tells you in that place where your conscience must once have lived whether you are a hypocrite and a fool or whether something greater still lives within you." ~ Les Visible
http://www.smokingmirrors...

So many people in my life are so caught up in the media lies and propoganda and if I try to tell them the truth they just don't want to hear it. I can't believe how brainwashed people are by all this propoganda. Amazing, isn't it? Yes, it has been a stress at times in personal relationships. I definitely know what you mean. But, I guess that's our job - to fight this battle.

Look at this side... If RP wins the nomination and general, (we pray), and he brings home the troops world wide, and economy recovers like he expects and so forth... you can tell all your friends... I TOLD YOU SO, with a smile on your face.

However, if RP doesn't win and more wars start, the economy goes totally poop, false flag terror or other wise happens on U.S. soil, etc... and etc... you can tell all your friends... I TOLD YOU SO, with a smirky smile on your face.

Ron Paulers know what is at stake on both sides. All the other candidates supporters haven't a clue what is at stake. Good or bad, they're fixing to get a wake up call.

That's sad to hear that you lost all your friends due to telling them simple truths. I once heard a quote about televesion that said something to the effect of "They call it 'Programming' for a reason. What you are getting from your friends is typical. Some people have been far too conditioned by their programming to ever think for themselves. They have the mentality that if something is not accepted by the establishment media, or not reported on by the establishment media, then that something cannot be true.

It's a mental conditioning thing. I like to call it the "No switch." Whenever you attempt to tell them something like - "Hey, this looks like vote fraud" the "No switch" goes off in their mind and they react by thinking/replying something to the effect of "No that cannot be true, there is no such thing and to think that there is such a thing would be very unpatriotic." As you can see, getting around the "No Switch" in these folk's minds can be next to // if not entirely // impossible. Sometimes you just have to move on and forget about the folks who have been "Programmed" so badly that they in fact, have had their own reality painted for them and choose to accept that reality and anything outside of that "reality" they will not accept, simply because their mind will not allow them to.

Another problem can arise when someone "Just woke up" to all of this. Many folks seem to over-react (not saying you did) when they find out some of the things you listed, as well as similar things alike.

The thing that would matter here is the approach. Informing a person is only effective if you take the proper approach. Sorry, but I don't know what that approach is and I have never ever been able to get around the "No switch."

Best of luck to ya'

I can empathize totally with you. But count your blessings that you have your spouse. Most of the friends that I know I am testing keep quiet about the fact that they wish I would cease and desist. I still rib them when I get an opening. I love the new friends I have made. One is 18 and I am 63--talk about a uniting message.

But what I am really, really curious about is who is on here that I know. lol
I'll bet I have friends on here, maybe from way back. Sometimes someone will say something and I think, "I wonder if that is _." It would be really fun for me to see everyone's real names. :)

there self dignity because of the way they have let there political partisanship overplay in the loss of a good friend, that is pretty shallow thinking on there behalf.
Keep with your opinions and don't let there feelings towards your beliefs make you feel bad, we are a part of history in the making everyday of our life and when your friends come back as they will then educate them in a way where you know that we all would want to be talked to if we were so wrong about something, extend your arms and welcome them to the Freedom movement of self responsibility.

I have a couple of brother's who are staying there distance from me because of my feelings for Ron Paul but I know I am right and they are so badly wrong, one supports Obama and the other Huckabee. I have flags for Ron Paul on my house and flag pole and they say I shouldn't wrap my feelings behind Ron Paul, I tell them look at the messenger and compare there stances on the issues and then tell me why you are not supporting Ron Paul who's stances have rarely changed with exception to the death penalty and immigration.

Keep your head up and keep fighting for OUR country we will WIN !!!!

I have lost a few but have made many more.
The meet-up groups have been the best for me to meet like-minded friends. These are friends who I can truly call friends, those that think and believe like me.
Kind of like you all here on DP.
.

to heck with freinds is what I say ...who needs them?

I have some old friends that would probably vote for B. Obama, this is hard to accept but I do, because I know they have more heart than sense some of the time. I have no friends that will vote for J. McCain, unless it's vote against H.Clinton in which case they may also be forgiven, though this will take a little longer.
For seekers of truth, outgrowing friends is an ongoing process, it's sad to leave some behind, sadder still to be left, ironically we are in this fight as much for them as for ourselves.

I find a lot of this movement reminds me of the 60's. It mostly the idea of anti-establishment.

Most of the young people in this movement can't understand the political upheaval in the sixties especially all of the protest around the Vietnam war. I'm sure RP does. Those were some serious but exciting times.

After the protest movement stopped the war and Nixon left office, I never would have never believed things would have progressed like they have.

Peace

Stick your nose in the mix with your friends, DON'T be passive, just be you and be confident. THEY are the ones who are uninformed. GET OUT. Talk to people. Be active and social. Use your interpersonal skills.

Know what I mean?

"Virtual" neighborhood for now, but we are real people spread across this country with a common cause! I have a hard time here also and have to tread liightly with co workers. Two weeks ago when politics was brought up they were not willing to discuss...this week ...I actually made a little headway when it was brought up and they were really receptive! My husband has it even worse as he is an executive at a community bank where the most powerful board member ( silverspoon neo con) is annnouncing to run for a house seat! We are near retirement in a small "mayberry rfd" type town very very hard to be too outspoken. My husband is a Libertarian and voted for Ron Paul in 88. Anyway, I have my yard sign, am a precinct leader and member of meetup here. Too much too enthusiastically just freaks people out...but a little thought provoking info here and there helps!

P.S. I would be happy to walk on the beach with you and talk Ron Paul til the sun comes up! I'll even provide the margueritas!

At first you give them some weak medicines not to overwhelm them. Give them a few pieces of information less extreme, and slowly start to break their faith in bureacrats. Once they've lost some faith you can apply stronger medicines, start getting into some more extreme info. Once their view of the gov has basically been shattered then you hit them with the REAL bad things that are going on, and paint the whole picture for them of exactly what is happening. Thats how I have approached this with my friends and it has been 100% successful. You've just got to plant seeds in their mind, and they will do much of the investigation on their own.