I think there's a culmination of forces brewing under the campus protests. A big one just started by my old college UT Austin, 20 mins down the road. Especially here in Texas, where the campus is blue but the state is red. Inflation, recent removal of DEI staff, Palestine. Housing/rent crunch is literally the worst here in Austin and college students have limited current work prospects (during college is usually service jobs, after it's unclear). The language from our state reps has been very inflammatory. Protestors have less to lose. And yes Gaza; organization has been happening for months, primarily peaceful but loud. I'd say the recent bill approval for more Israel/Ukraine (war) aid made the people realize they haven't been heard.
I get your general point, but if you think the far left is where authoritarianism is creeping then you really do have a serious filter bubble. Look at what is actually happening, rather than what you feel.
Most people are centrist, but the idea that Republicans are more reasonable than progressives is a trope. Just watch interviews with people attending Trump rallies.
We have people on campuses literally chanting in support of terrorists if you need to see things with your own eyes. Canada and Australia are wholesale trying to censor the internet (other places already do this but you expect diff from those countries). I think it's really difficult to observe and not be concerned. Plenty more ex but I didn't include bc I want people to consider the borg analogy (and if they're joining a mindless collective). And I never said the far right is better (they are both v bad, horseshoe theory is real). What we need is *normal* liberals to stop letting insane people coopt the party.
Also as I linked in the article, it does appear the tide is turning in our own sector (this is really good read: https://www.piratewires.com/p/mission-accomplished). Reasons for cautious optimism things are maybe returning to normal...
Sure you did, you quoted a Tweet that specifically said it's easier to talk to Republicans. You used the version of the online meme that claims the far left moved left but the right stayed where it is. If you are concerned about the protests on college campuses I would take a look at the work to ban abortion, which is actual law & enforcement.
The reality is that we live in a time of false equivalences. The right has become so authoritarian oriented around Trump that our instincts are to look for an equivalence on the left and in doing so grasp at straws. There are voices on the left that are extreme, but they aren't popular or even significant. On the right they are policy.
Knowing you and Brianna I think our values are actually all aligned in about the same spot. I think she is concerned bc of how deranged (some, of course not all) people on the (extreme) left have gotten and this is a surprise for people. Think everyone in the normal part of the spectrum are pro women's rights. BTW: I should also do a post on the far right - Romulans or perhaps Cardassians would work well here. My point with writing this is I think the left should address the chaos and extract the people with anti-western values from the party -- that would be great. If the right went pro women's rights etc that would be rad too.
I think there's a culmination of forces brewing under the campus protests. A big one just started by my old college UT Austin, 20 mins down the road. Especially here in Texas, where the campus is blue but the state is red. Inflation, recent removal of DEI staff, Palestine. Housing/rent crunch is literally the worst here in Austin and college students have limited current work prospects (during college is usually service jobs, after it's unclear). The language from our state reps has been very inflammatory. Protestors have less to lose. And yes Gaza; organization has been happening for months, primarily peaceful but loud. I'd say the recent bill approval for more Israel/Ukraine (war) aid made the people realize they haven't been heard.
Make it so.
I get your general point, but if you think the far left is where authoritarianism is creeping then you really do have a serious filter bubble. Look at what is actually happening, rather than what you feel.
Most people are centrist, but the idea that Republicans are more reasonable than progressives is a trope. Just watch interviews with people attending Trump rallies.
We have people on campuses literally chanting in support of terrorists if you need to see things with your own eyes. Canada and Australia are wholesale trying to censor the internet (other places already do this but you expect diff from those countries). I think it's really difficult to observe and not be concerned. Plenty more ex but I didn't include bc I want people to consider the borg analogy (and if they're joining a mindless collective). And I never said the far right is better (they are both v bad, horseshoe theory is real). What we need is *normal* liberals to stop letting insane people coopt the party.
Also as I linked in the article, it does appear the tide is turning in our own sector (this is really good read: https://www.piratewires.com/p/mission-accomplished). Reasons for cautious optimism things are maybe returning to normal...
Sure you did, you quoted a Tweet that specifically said it's easier to talk to Republicans. You used the version of the online meme that claims the far left moved left but the right stayed where it is. If you are concerned about the protests on college campuses I would take a look at the work to ban abortion, which is actual law & enforcement.
The reality is that we live in a time of false equivalences. The right has become so authoritarian oriented around Trump that our instincts are to look for an equivalence on the left and in doing so grasp at straws. There are voices on the left that are extreme, but they aren't popular or even significant. On the right they are policy.
Knowing you and Brianna I think our values are actually all aligned in about the same spot. I think she is concerned bc of how deranged (some, of course not all) people on the (extreme) left have gotten and this is a surprise for people. Think everyone in the normal part of the spectrum are pro women's rights. BTW: I should also do a post on the far right - Romulans or perhaps Cardassians would work well here. My point with writing this is I think the left should address the chaos and extract the people with anti-western values from the party -- that would be great. If the right went pro women's rights etc that would be rad too.