I’m gonna hit on a few topics here.
First, the moniker of conservative as it applies to politics and media.
Through the mumble and jumble of it all, I can surmise that this title was chosen to make the person or group appear well thought out, learned, responsible, careful to rush to judgment or make too hasty an action before really thinking through the details. Right there, that explanation would appeal to most people! It sounds sane and rational. But, it’s a buzzword.
Like the picture above, it’s a signal that being conservative puts you on a platform above others who may not share the same views or just live their lives differently, which is a major sticking point. Conservatives routinely apply exclusionary tactics to enforce their policies and have amped them up since the Civil Rights era.
The campaign against black and brown and indigenous people in this country over the years has been the heart and soul of the Conservative movement. A creed that insists only white conservative-minded people should have any say in any decision-making from the uneducated ditch digger to the President, must serve the needs of the most important citizens, themselves. Funny how that works. Aren’t they just the luckiest ducks? Was this really the idea the Founders envisioned? I mean sure, that time was riddled with inconsistencies, but at the core, they knew times would change. But this entire movement is obsessed with itself and wants to go backward, reenact certain policies, literally get to decide who gets rights and doesn’t, who’s a citizen, and who’s a dirty migrant moocher.
A lot of time and effort was placed into these concepts, and it’s been fed to White America for so long over many generations that it’s either become background noise or they firmly believe it. So as the news painted every non-white as a danger to the public, it became easier and easier to legislate even though I’m certain most politicians of any intelligence knew it was wrong. But, they were part of the club and didn’t want to fall out of favor.
Membership has its rewards, disloyalty has consequences. What an appetizing offer! It’s like choosing between prison food and hospital food; depending on why you’re there, it may not help either way!
As we hit the Information Age it became clearer that despite all the strife and struggle, we had become closer as a society. I never thought avocados would become so popular, Hip-Hop would go mainstream, awesome TV shows, cartoons and movies would get beamed right to my screen. My favorite YouTube channels are all hosted by folks from Mexico, Germany, Japan, India, Australia; I love it all.
Somewhere in the last decade or two, Conservatives started feeling less important, like their status had been taken down a peg. What they actively did to others was happening during a time of growth and change naturally. Rather than figure out a place in it, they plotted, and still do, to TAKE IT BACK.
They couldn’t stand seeing minorities happy and thriving. It’s antithetical to their entire system. A successful black person must submit to a white person in this world. It’s an apparent natural order, a social food chain they wouldn’t ever admit is just a retooled caste system they’ve been slowly working back into place.
Buoyed by Conservative Fear Mongers in the news media, a swath of white folk have been getting armed to the teeth to quell the menace known as “Libruhls”. And Bam! In one quick umbrella term, they can lump in everyone without seeming racist. Anything they can do to just shrug things off like their patriarch is fair game because they play upfront a very simple offense and defense, behind closed doors it’s a whole other story- we’ve been seeing it more and more out in the open.
Why? Because reworking the system requires reframing every position to eliminate dissent and debate. If they don’t acknowledge racism as the issue, it no longer exists, it will make the argument moot and they can accuse the other side of being the problem! They’ve been doing this most recently with calls for bipartisanship, which isn’t about parties coming together, it’s about Democrats coming their way. It’s the same way they don’t like losing elections because “Lookit all the guldurn red on the map! It shouldn’t matter that 6 million people live over there, that’s just 4 counties!”
My congressional district in NY is chopped up so oddly it strains credulity. It ensures that white voters outnumber others in a 60/40 manner by grouping my town with four white towns. And if you guys don’t know, the entire mood and feel of a town in NY changes in a matter of a few blocks. I have zero in common with anything that goes on over there, yet their streets are paved nice and ours have potholes a foot wide and deep. I’ve lived in my town almost all my 40 years, I’ve never seen a crosswalk button ever work this whole time and they’ve never updated the lights to have sensors or timers. Because fuck it, right? We’re Libruhls.
I’m renting a small room for 9 years now with all my worldly possessions in it, sharing a bathroom and kitchen for almost $800/mo. Living on the same island, paying the same high prices for food, gas, and cell service so my tax dollars can go to make their highways beautiful, and ours look like dog shit!
I’ve said it before, in conservatives' minds it appears that nothing is worth having unless you can rub someone's face in it. And that game is getting old because people are going to start seeing it for the toxic, parasitic relationship it actually is.
It might be time to cut them down a peg socially and financially. Remind them that they’re here on the ground with the rest of us mortals. Call them on their bullshit, ask them what they are ‘conserving’ because it isn’t money or the environment, or keeping govt out of private matters!
They’ll run up America’s credit card while flashing around wads of cash they keep from not paying the debt they incur while badgering others for spending their whole check. They see the environment as another playing field, so if it can’t be exploited for gain it’s a nuisance and too expensive to work within limitations, it’ll kill jobs. They want to host the party in perpetuity and never be tasked with setting up or cleaning up and they will take no responsibility for any outcome other than total success.
And never forget they’re suddenly big 1A fans and want to back it up with 2A! But not if you vote or live differently. Freedom of speech in an overarching sense is freedom of expression, so they can proclaim to be Proud Christian, heterosexual, pro-life, family first, gun-enthusiast, conservative Republicans all day long, and the 9mm on their hip backs that up, yeah?
So a Hispanic Agnostic who practices some Buddhist teachings, who is openly bisexual, pro-choice, and wants a family, shouldn’t be allowed to vote or carry because to a conservative this person has too many non-starter, liberal opinions so let’s quell that and say it’s a voting security issue?
Conservatives need to understand that it’s equally okay to say your piece, but none of us are required to give a good goddamn about your rotten opinion, and it’s perfectly okay to let you know it!
Suck it up, snowflake!
