This is a sketch illustrating my experience, talking to your average person ( BTW it’s also sort of meant to be a bit funny):
Leftwing Person
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Me: Hi, how you doing?
Other: I’M IMPORTANT - I’M ALSO VERY RESPONSIBLE ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT - I AM VERY VERY CONCERNED ABOUT DIVERSITY - I DO MINDFULNESS, I DO YOGA, I TRAVEL BUT OFFSET MY CARBON - I’M CREATIVE BUT RESPONSIBLE - DID I TELL YOU HOW IMPORTANT I AM? I’VE GOT A GOOD JOB BUT I DON’T BRAG ABOUT IT, THAT’S BECAUSE I DON’T HAVE TO SHOUT ABOUT IT!!!!
Me: Yes, but can you tell me something about you inside?
Other: DIDN’T I SAY I’M IMPORTANT -
I ALSO LIKE FILMS - I LIKE BOOKS - I LIKE THEATRE - THESE ARE MY FAVOURITE FILMS , THESE ARE MY FAVOURITE BOOKS , THESE ARE MY FAVOURITE PLAYS
Me: Yes, but don’t you ever feel lost in the world or a bit different?
Other: I’M DIFFERENT, I’M VERY DIFFERENT, I’M SO DIFFERENT, I’M THE MOST DIFFERENT PERSON IN THE WORLD… BUT EVERYONE LIKES ME, I’M VERY LIKEABLE, LOOK HOW LIKEABLE I AM …BUT I’M DIFFERENT VERY DIFFERENT, VERY VERY DIFFERENT, IF YOU WERE TO COMPARE MY DIFFERENCE TO OTHER PEOPLE’S DIFFERENCE I WOULD BE SO SO MUCH MORE DIFFERENT, BECAUSE I’M JUST SO DIFFERENT, YOU SEE. DIFFERENT. VERY DIFFERENT… AND LIKEABLE
Me: Right, nice, good for you, but how do you feel?
Other: I LOVE SHARING MY FEELINGS, LOOK AT WHAT A FEELING SHARING PERSON I AM, DON’T YOU JUST EMPATHISE,AND IM VERY EMPATHETIC, VERY EMPATHETIC, DID I TELL YOU HOW EMPATHETIC I AM. I FOLLOW ALL THE RULES OF EMPATHY, AND I’M MINDFUL, VERY MINDFUL, MY MINDFULNESS MAKES ME SO EMPATHETIC. I’M SO EMPATHETIC TO PEOPLE AND THE WORLD. ISN’T THE WORLD IN SUCH A TERRIBLE STATE, TERRIBLE STATE, AND PEOPLE, I FEEL SO SORRY FOR PEOPLE, POOR PEOPLE, I LOVE PEOPLE, ISN’T IT TERRIBLE FOR PEOPLE AND WHAT’S HAPPENING TO PEOPLE. I’M A PERSON, IT’S SO HARD BEING A PERSON, US PEOPLE SHOULD STICK TO TOGETHER AND LEARN HOW TO BE EMPATHETIC, DON’T YOU THINK? ARE YOU EMPATHETIC?
Me: well, not in the way you describe, no.
Other: WELL YOU SHOULD BE, EVERYONE SHOULD BE. YOU SHOULD LEARN TO BE LIKE ME, YOU CAN BE LIKE ME. I’M IMPORTANT AND EMPATHIC AND COMPASSIONATE, LOOK AT ALL THESE THINGS THAT PROVE I’M GREAT AND IMPORTANT AND EMPATHETIC AND COMPASSIONATE. YOU TOO CAN LEARN TO BE LIKE ME! WE CAN ALL EDUCATE OURSELVES.
Me: why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?
Other: I AM IMPORTANT AND LOVING AND FRIENDLY AND POPULAR AND CREATIVE AND DIFFERENT AND SUCCESSFUL AND EMPATHETIC.
Me: yeah, that's all the things you want to be seen as in the eyes of your friends, family and colleagues, is there nothing else?
Other: ARE YOU GASLIGHTING ME? ARE YOU SAYING MY FEELINGS AREN'T IMPORTANT? HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT? HOW CAN YOU QUESTION WHO I AM? I'M PROUD OF WHO I AM, I'VE WORKED HARD, WHO ARE YOU TO QUESTION WHO I AM? WHO ARE YOU TO SAY WHO I SHOULD BE?
Me: but have you ever thought there might be someone inside who, perhaps, doesn't have to compete and prove themselves all the time, and shout about who they are?
Other: I DON'T SHOUT, HOW DARE YOU TO ACCUSE ME OF SHOUTING, I'M VERY CONSIDERATE, MY FRIENDS LOVE ME AND I SUPPORT THEM. I NEVER SHOUT. I'M VERY LOVING AND SENSITIVE PERSON, I'M NOT AT ALL DEFENSIVE. I'M VERY LOVING AND SENSITIVE. ALWAYS.
Me: ok, cool. Nice to meet you. Don't you just love social small-talk?
Rightwing Person
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Me: Hi, how you doing?
Other: I'M A VERY POWERFUL, RICH IMPORTANT PERSON (OR AT LEAST I THINK I AM) AND YOU WILL PRETEND TO LIKE ME, BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T I WILL LOOK AT YOU IN SUCH A WAY, WHERE YOU FEEL THAT I WILL BEAT YOU TO A PULP FOR NOT ACKNOWLEDGING ME AS THE SUPERIOR BEING I AM. YOU WILL SAY I'M CHARMING EVEN THOUGH YOU HATE ME AND I KNOW YOU HATE ME, BUT I LIKE TO FEEL THAT YOU HATE ME, BECAUSE I LIKE OTHER PEOPLE TO DO WHAT I WANT THEM TO DO OUT OF FEAR, BECAUSE IT MAKES ME FEEL IMPORTANT AND POWERFUL.
Me: nice to meet you.
Other: (see paragraph above and repeat ad nauseum, until your brain explodes, you know the form, just see Trump and Boris Johnson, and cut and paste. )
(BTW - have you ever considered that Trump might the world's gift to neurodivergent people - so that leftwing neurotypical people will understand how it feels to be a neurodivergent person talking to them? )
So that's it - of course, most people are some mix of both the above conversations - the right winger shouts and says the same thing all the time and considers being a bore affirmation of their status as someone who must be listened to, the leftwing person changes what they say with lots of variety, but everything they say sounds exactly the same, so they might as well be shouting and saying the same thing over and over anyway, it's personality music is so unendingly monotonous.
It's strange how the world and it's people can seem so beautiful, meaningful and subtley mysterious at a distance viewed as a pattern of art or poetry, but so monochrome, ugly and predictable up close, once I get to know them - except, of course, when they're drunk, or their father or dog has just died, then the world as they know it slips through their fingers, leaving only the terror of an emotionally naked existence where what they say, or pretend to be, makes no difference to the emptiness, terror and uncertainty they feel inside - then they can be quite likeable.
Of course, the great fear is, that I'm just as defensive, monotonous and egotistical as the above characters, only less able to fit in because of the faulty social wiring in my skull. So I don't even get to feel in the slightest way superior, only to wallow in the gloomy teenager's wet dream that somehow the world can wished away, if only I could find the right button to press on my life's remote control.