Imagine how discomfiting it is for someone of lifelong passionate liberal credentials to find oneself agreeing with hateful conservatives on something. But there we are.
At least, there I am. I hate "woke." I hate the elevation of attention-starved fake "trans" people and "nonbinary" twits to oppressed minorities. I hate images of racial minorities playing Tolkien characters (I don't watch the show and everyone I know who was watching it has stopped). I hate grievance being more valuable than achievement. I hate "everyone gets a trophy." I hate the celebration of differences raised over the cultivation of commonality.
But Christ do I hate finding myself in agreement with conservatives.
The Marine Corps drafted for about a year due to heavy combat losses. We got a guy in platoon who was anti-war and even expressed the view that America was the bad guy.
His first night ambush made contact. He discovered that in war it's not about good guys and bad guys. It's about our guys and their guys, and he was a Marine, like it or not.
I'm certain that the enemy had people I would have liked if we had met someplace other than war. That is the problem I see with allowing ourselves the us vs them as an enemy where we cannot allow ourselves any thought of humanity in them.
There are things to agree or disagree with on both sides of the political divide, but once we have demonized them we are effectively at war.
Jim Webb, a life long Democrat who's failed run for POTUS said that the party had moved away from the values he associated with it. Tulsi Gabbard just said the same. The party has been taken over by people that neither you or I associate with liberalism. Painful to see when their opposition does not represent what you hold dear. The devil sometimes speaks truth, but you don't need to join his legions to acknowledge it.
The newly woke are much like new vegans and cross fitters.
As Bobby McFerrin sang in Don't Worry, Be Happy, "In every life we have some trouble. But when you worry you make it double," everyone has troubles. But when you try to make yours exclude the troubles of other people you go beyond making yourself miserable.
Do minorities, women, and people on the edges of social norms face issues that I don't? Yes. Does that mean their issues are worse than mine? No. They might, and they might not. It's not a given. I see ranking your woes as a fruitless endeavor.
Imagine how discomfiting it is for someone of lifelong passionate liberal credentials to find oneself agreeing with hateful conservatives on something. But there we are.
At least, there I am. I hate "woke." I hate the elevation of attention-starved fake "trans" people and "nonbinary" twits to oppressed minorities. I hate images of racial minorities playing Tolkien characters (I don't watch the show and everyone I know who was watching it has stopped). I hate grievance being more valuable than achievement. I hate "everyone gets a trophy." I hate the celebration of differences raised over the cultivation of commonality.
But Christ do I hate finding myself in agreement with conservatives.
The Marine Corps drafted for about a year due to heavy combat losses. We got a guy in platoon who was anti-war and even expressed the view that America was the bad guy.
His first night ambush made contact. He discovered that in war it's not about good guys and bad guys. It's about our guys and their guys, and he was a Marine, like it or not.
I'm certain that the enemy had people I would have liked if we had met someplace other than war. That is the problem I see with allowing ourselves the us vs them as an enemy where we cannot allow ourselves any thought of humanity in them.
There are things to agree or disagree with on both sides of the political divide, but once we have demonized them we are effectively at war.
Jim Webb, a life long Democrat who's failed run for POTUS said that the party had moved away from the values he associated with it. Tulsi Gabbard just said the same. The party has been taken over by people that neither you or I associate with liberalism. Painful to see when their opposition does not represent what you hold dear. The devil sometimes speaks truth, but you don't need to join his legions to acknowledge it.
This organization might be of interest to you.
https://www.ourrescue.org
The newly woke are much like new vegans and cross fitters.
As Bobby McFerrin sang in Don't Worry, Be Happy, "In every life we have some trouble. But when you worry you make it double," everyone has troubles. But when you try to make yours exclude the troubles of other people you go beyond making yourself miserable.
Do minorities, women, and people on the edges of social norms face issues that I don't? Yes. Does that mean their issues are worse than mine? No. They might, and they might not. It's not a given. I see ranking your woes as a fruitless endeavor.