"The Who" has mental health problems of his own. He doesn't see that his position is extreme, and the position of the lion's share of Program opponents is moderate. He sees us all as extremists and "moderate" as somewhere between our position and his.
There are some people here who oppose Programs and are extremists in their views about mental health and incarceration of criminals and such overall.
Most of the people here are moderates about mental health care, and moderates about crime and punishment, who just oppose one highly dubious treatment modality.
"The Who" strikes me as the kind of guy who regularly makes the mistake of thinking "moderate" means halfway between his position and the other guy's---when that's not what "moderate" is at all.
As anybody who's not viewing the world through a twisted prism understands.
Ever noticed that any concessions "The Who" makes about bad things in the Programs serve more to prove to himself that he's not rigid and extreme, rather than to actually talk about the problems with that treatment modality?
Every treatment has its problems and issues. It's just hard to protect your dedication to a really lousy treatment if you start genuinely discussing its problems versus its intended or actual benefits.
We've all got our issues and we've all got our damages---everybody on the face of this Earth has some.
This guy's particular issues and damages make it pointless to try to talk with him. He can't not be rigid and skewed---not without wanting to change some of his problems and the help of a really good therapist.
Which we're not.
The guy may function well enough to get by in life generally, but he's only gonna see the world through that skewed prism, and nobody here can change that.
I don't know what damaged him, I don't know how bad it is, I don't know if his life is otherwise peachy. I'm not trying to diagnose this total stranger with this, that, or the other. But it's clear from, what, a couple of years of talking to the guy? He's not looking at the same world as the rest of us are.
Julie