Hi there. Welcome to your weekend edition of what the holy fuck is going on in the United States. You may want to stop reading at this exact moment if it makes you squeamish to be very honest about the current state of affairs.
Perhaps you are someone who prefers to live blissfully disconnected. I get it. I do. I’ve had to take a breather from time to time when everything feels too heavy. Hopeless. However, once I feel sufficiently fortified, if such a thing exists lately, I reconnect myself to reality. Much like a hiatus from cookies, I don’t gorge myself upon return. Rather, I dabble.
The detachment is meant to be something of a palate cleanser. That teeny cup of fruit sorbet they serve you in between dishes to remove any lingering flavors from the mouth and provide a fresh perspective for the next foray into culinary delight. Except in this case, rather than a perfectly seared salmon, we are preparing our senses for a heaping mouthful of shit sandwich.
I know. Why? Why would we want to do such a thing? Wouldn’t it be better to stick with the delightfully grilled asparagus or tender, fluffy wild rice? Yes, of course. The thing is, we need to dive into the crappy side of things, no pun intended. We do. We have to fully explore the failures in order to better protect and appreciate all the goodness.
I think that’s part of the problem lately. I think that we have a lack of appreciation. A lack of understanding. A lack of awareness.
We are so busy operating under an umbrella of every person for themselves, that we are failing to see how we are failing each other.
I know, I’m throwing a whole bunch of metaphors at you and also, I’m making several general and even grandiose statements. Not so helpful. So, let’s get into it, shall we?
I’ve heard a lot of my fellow citizens tossing around the phrases ‘freedom of speech’ and ‘censorship’ lately. Many. Some of these mentions are more innocuous and present in the form of “I can’t believe ______ took down my hilarious and arguably harmless meme.” Then, there are the most intense uses, such as one defending sparkly toothed Ron DeSantis spouting anti-gay, anti-trans rhetoric at his rallies or bigot parades, or whatever you might feel comfortable calling them. Do you know what that sounds like? Let me assist you, as I’ve heard it more than I would ever care to. “I mean, I don’t necessarily agree with him or anything, but the First Amendment does allow him to say whatever he wants and, isn’t it important that we protect freedom of speech?”
Hi. Fuck no. Perhaps you took a different set of classes than I did in school. Actually, it’s pretty apparent that a good number of folks in this here United States of America had a different teacher for the exploration into the United States Constitution. My education was pretty solid but also, very white with a smattering of Christianity. That said, I learned how the Constitution came about, what the Amendments are, how they came to be, and what the exceptions are to each. Um, scuse? Exceptions. Oh yes. That’s right.
Sorry. I feel like we need a new paragraph to break down this wild and surprising information. The Amendments to the United States Constitution do not grant an unequivocal right to act like an insane fucking criminal lunatic. They memorialize rights granted to citizens, with a grayish (and woefully inadequate) sense of what would exempt someone from protection under said Amendments.
Ron Desantis is a sexist, vile, homophobe. I can say that, because it’s true. Not only is it the truth, but he wears those badges proudly. He has an almost embarrassing sense of pride when it comes to his irrational and devastatingly harmful ideologies. If he just went around feeling hatred towards nearly everyone who isn’t a white, Christian male, I’d still loathe him, but I’d be far more chill about things. He doesn’t though. He incites ‘imminent lawless action’ and makes ‘true threats,’ which, are exceptions under the First Amendment.
It’s cool though, because we are so committed to our ability to speak freely, that we defend his fiery, inaccurate, garbage hate-speak. What else? Well, I’m so glad you asked. We also don’t condemn those who parade around our government buildings, speaking about causing physical harm to members of our government. I mean, some of us do, but others, FREEDOM OF SPEECH. FREEDOM OF SPEECH. You feel me?
I’ve thought some pretty intensely gross thoughts about people during my 41 years on this planet. I have. I’ve been so angry, so offended, so grossed out, so hurt, that I’ve wished people things that I can’t even speak aloud. You know what happens after I think those things? Honestly? I feel guilty as fuck. I can’t even stomach feeling that way. That’s not to say that people haven’t massacred me, and I don’t think they deserve the fiery pits of the netherworld as a result. They have and I do. But then also, I don’t. Some part of me thinks it’s bad juju to go there. Some part of me feels like if I take those thoughts all the way across the wire, I will be the one walking across steaming hot embers.
I don’t have a clear vision of what works here, but I also know that wishing another human physical harm because you don’t agree with them or they offend you isn’t going to get us skipping up the evolutionary ladder in any notable fashion. To the contrary. All I can think of when I hear such sentiments spoken aloud, is that we are regressing in spectacular fashion. We are moving backwards at the speed of light.
We’ve become so committed to the protection of the rights that we believe we are entitled to, that we’ve distorted them into something ugly and unproductive. We are forgetting their origin story and we are definitively blanking out when it comes to all the ways in which those rights don’t apply.
You want me to defend your right to say gross shit? Sure. I guess. I can’t say I’m happy about it, but knock your socks off. You want to spout hateful rhetoric that encourages people to put babies out on the street because of who they love or how they feel about themselves, or perhaps you want to suggest that people cause bodily harm to others because they simply don’t agree with their policies? Get the fuck out of here.
Really.
Please.
Let’s get it together people. You can disagree with people. You can feel differently. You can try and educate yourself outside one source of information. You can be angry and still not wish someone harm. You can find productive ways to channel your frustration and rage. You don’t have to get to a place of love.
But, please stop defending people who are looking to hurt everyone else who isn’t them and their circle of ignorant assholes. Do me a favor.
There isn’t enough sorbet on this goddamned planet.
X
L.
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