I am the mean

Great insight. Spouses can be noticeably unempressed with us. Its refreshing in a fake world. I love that my wife and I are so close that we don't bs each other.

What if he keeps calling it retarded?

It’s why I have a policy to battle test major life decisions by getting wasted and discussing it with loved ones all night after previously analyzing it to death sober. If the two agree, you’re good to go. It’s the quantum tunneling test.

I like the approach. I’m too maverick for my own good. I articulate my gut instinct joining dots to make my moves. I think that why I appreciate considered, dispassionate commentary soooooooo much

Then one of us is wrong. I alone have the “publish” button. We tackle every detail in debates and grant the others’ good points, so we rarely hit a standstill. Usually we end up agreeing. It doesn’t take much. Standstills mostly result from people who don’t want to debate or who can’t debate. We don’t have that issue. Covid vaccination was our longest debate, still ongoing, but it no longer affects macro. And my main point was that nobody should be forced to get it. And we joke about it now, like my liberal mom who is more left than both of us sent me a serious text saying not to get an MMR booster since I almost died from it as a baby, so I sent it to my husband like “apparently here’s my origin story as a conservative anti-vaxxer, btw”. So if we disagree on a material post, I feel the need to argue it and sometimes slightly reword it, after his pushback. It makes the article better. But should we somehow still disagree, I’m the one that presses publish on all my platforms. The final arbiter. He has final say elsewhere in many other areas. But I’ve never had to publish without his blessing. I analyze and tweak to get his agreement, because he’s a great critic.

Street smarts versus Dr Spock

Depends on what you mean by “forced”. Forced means someone or something held you down and injected you. Forced does not mean a job requirement, not being able to go to a restaurant or a concert. The American mindset has gotten so weak that we complain about being “forced” when we are not. We have become a bunch of bitches.

Not every couple can debate effectively. Most become too emotional too quickly. 😰 You're a lucky couple. bless you both!

That's pretty fabulous I listen to people who focus on what is and what is likely to be rather than what should be Should is very stressful You, George Friedman, Dr Sarah Payne of the Navy college for example