That a right-wing lawyer just suggested before the Supreme Court that Americans don't have a right to not conform is... a real mask-off moment in a way I suspect is not going to get enough attention.
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Non conformists are the only ones that have ever shaken up anything. The arts are a perfect example of it. Good history is made by non conformists. Non conformists make good trouble and we have progress. But no, let’s go backwards! Idiocy
I think to not conform is a form of free speech. I have done this many times in my teaching career especially to set my own exams rather than one set by others with serious gaps in their education.
There’s a book titled “Why Liberalism Failed” by conservative thinker Patrick Deneen. In it he explains his concept of freedom being a right that’s earned through conformity. Any straying from that “acceptable” path “must” be met by the consequent loss of liberty. Took me a while to even understand.
Protest before the president-elect sends the military to confront civil unrest created by the "enemy from within." If you want to keep your Social Security, Medicare & the few social safety nets centrist Dems allowed, protest while you can. Demand better representatives who cater to the 99%, not 1%.
Take a page from S. Koreans, who showed their president what protecting democracy means.
Prescient. A decade ago, economist Paul Krugman explained how the United States was becoming an oligarchy - the very system our founders revolted against. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzQYA9Qjsi0
The AG in TN is Skrmetti. He’s a Federalist Society Leonard Leo devotee. He’s loved by the right wing Gestapo here (the gov & legislature & 2 senators)
This is the beating, dark heart of the little-a authoritarian mindset underlying MAGA and it is poison to freedom, self-expression, self-determination, personal autonomy, happiness...
This is substantial enough, to be clear, that I'm assuming there's context I missed between trying to follow the feed and listen to the smart people commentate.
As much as I want to equate this fascism to the classical twenty century variety, it becomes more obvious by the day that it's just a reach for the antebellum constitutional order
Does this mean we could start to see laws about what "men" and "women" fashion decisions? Will pants-wearing be outlawed for women? And dresses for men? And then what about kilts?!?
As white Christian nationalist as they can make themselves. No doubt they feel that they have a right to be emboldened. They can see what has happened so far and see what is on its way into the American judicial system via the White House.
As recently as my grandfather's childhood (so, less than 100 years ago), left-handed children were forced to use their right hands for everything. My grandfather was not allowed to use his left hand in school when learning to write.
It's close to the original formulation of rugged individualism: the freedom to compete within the rules rather than the freedom of nonconformity or self-expression. It's an extraordinarily conservative idea.
Every one of these items should be accompanied by a statement of how it will make our lives worse. Yes, even Republican’s lives. Because they never get it.
The Tennessee ban on gender affirming care for young people case at SCOTUS today. It's a fucking nightmare that these assholes get to have any say in it.
"A society which is insane and unsure of itself cannot allow for freedom. Everybody MUST join. Everybody must work. Everybody must belong. And then freedom disappears"
In all fairness it's a point we trans people have been trying to get across to everyone for over a decade now.
Republicans have never hid their desire to control every aspect of other peoples lives. We were the easy way in for them, then just slowly turn up the heat.
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Prescient. A decade ago, economist Paul Krugman explained how the United States was becoming an oligarchy - the very system our founders revolted against. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzQYA9Qjsi0
This is why trans is such a threat to them.
Our very existence is non-conformity to their gender binary stereotypes.
Feels like conformity to party rules coming for everyone.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/supreme-court-case-u-v-194936975.html
Anyway. Context:
Get More Weird.
Cuz,like, what the fuck is anybody gonna do about it?
They overturned Roe V Wade and people said mean things but nothing changed
In unrelated news, I heard the CEO of a health insurance company was assassinated in public today
Real Stepford-Wives horror prospect.
https://bsky.app/profile/themjl.bsky.social/post/3lcikz3zjlc2z
Just trying to get this straight in my head.
Dear lord, it seems the victory of slogans over reality is almost complete.
Conservatives, 2024: "So, Kirk's Kobayashi Maru solution was a bad thing, akshoouhlee."
Alan Watts
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Republicans have never hid their desire to control every aspect of other peoples lives. We were the easy way in for them, then just slowly turn up the heat.