I did read the Free Press article and whilst some of it is worrying (and depressing) I also kind of wondered what version of 𝕏 the author was using, because it isn't really like mine.
Take, for example, the statement that "Since Trump’s win in November, the extreme right has completely taken over the platform . . ."
Eh?
They haven't (yet) taken over the bits of 𝕏 that constitute my feed at any rate.
That being said, wasn't this illiberal counter-woke reaction exactly what many people have, for years, been warning about? Didn't many of us (including myself) say that the end result of all of the racist claptrap that is DEI and CRT would be to make society *more* racist?
By putting the "cause of the day" on a pedestal, and rigidly clamping down on expressions of disquiet about that (for *years*), all they've done is to paint a big target on whatever "cause of the day" they claimed to want to support.
It is of course very wrong to go after those on the pedestal instead of those who *put* them on the pedestal, but it is at least partly understandable. We've had years and years of this illiberal crap masquerading as 'compassion' and many people are, understandably, extremely angry. Unfortunately, if this Free Press article represents some degree of truth, then this anger is currently being directed at the wrong target.
So we have a bunch of angry people simply lashing out, finally able to vent their frustration at the *years* of suppression (and going after the wrong targets) and this has been (allegedly) going on for, what, a few weeks? It's still wrong, I admit, but let's see how the oscillations settle down before claiming catastrophe, perhaps?
We also probably have a lot of genuinely nasty idiots who now feel more free to express their crappy views. We should let them - and argue against them.
What we need to be wary of is *any* attempt (right or left, woke or non-woke, or whatever) to restrict that necessary discussion.
There's also an aspect of this in which I would want a better view of what, exactly, is being described as "extreme right". Many of us still remember that those of us who shared MLK's dream were described as 'racist', for example. If that's being racist, then it's a badge I'll happily wear.
But, yes, we do have to keep a careful eye on this backlash. And the same principles we have stood by all along need to come to play - debate (however vigorous) is the way forward.
Oscillations don't "settle down", not when there are a bunch of people on each side saying, alternately in turn whenever it's their turn to serve the ball, "I/we have been feeling so unfairly put upon! We're just letting off steam! It's our turn now and it's harmless just desserts!!"
Ok then, tell me in advance how much satisfaction will be sufficient for those currently letting off steam to say, ah, ok we're done now and now we're going to completely change behaviors and hew to the deeply-felt commitment to human rights that we've had all along.
Tell me in advance how, when, and why that mass transition of behavior will take place, and I will mark my calendar.
Pro tip #1: people who are in fact deeply committed to human rights and the non-discriminatory, non-abusive, non-chest-thumping, non-sslf-excusing behavior that goes along with that commitment are never inclined to take "a turn" bashing the other side when they get the chance.
Pro tip #2: people so bashed by other people "taking their turn" are never inclined to say, "oh gee that's ok they're just taking their turn to which they are rightfully entitled".
In fact if you and other "turn takers" will think about it, the leftish-woke claimed that "turn taking" was a cardinal justification for their behavior. Stop and think. Then after doing that, continue stopping.
The Never Trumpers were right all long. If Democrats are smart they’ll find a Bill Clinton type who emphasizes universal healthcare, “work hard and play by the rules,” making abortion “safe, legal and rare” and who isn’t afraid to fund 100k new cops.
There is something here of value. However, I am not 100% sure how much.
Take "racism". This term, as we all know, is chucked around with abandon. Certain people are now telling the truth. "Blacks are more likely than whites to be involved in crime". This is 100% true. Is this the "racist statements are increasing" stuff? How about "black academics have lower bars to tenure and success than do white academics", which again is 100% true (I can give examples). Is this the kind of statement leading to the charge of racism?
Take "sexism". "Women should not be in the infantry" - this statement is considered true by a lot of people including Pete Hegseth, Sec Defense. Why do they agree with this statement? Women have much lower upper body strength than do men. Since women have been going into the military, almost none have succeeded in passing the admission tests for Navy Seals and the like. Is this the "increase in sexism"?
I have said, over and over and over, that AfD is not a Nazi party, but is a patriotic anti-immigrant party. They are rising due to the tidal wave of illegals, 99% of whom are Muslim young men, who have invaded Germany. This kind of statement used to be suppressed but is now able to be made. Is this the "rise in xenophobia"?
Like many discussions of "problems in the world", this discussion is free of actual examples. What specifically are statements which are being made that are inappropriate? Give examples, Helen.
My point is that a lot of statements about things that are true that are now being allowed to be said. Cancel culture has receded from the social media platforms. These statements are often true, but considered by SJW/Woke to be "ism" statements.
Fair points all. The problem is the Left has shown almost no signs of moderation. The rhetoric, new leadership, and vibes all suggest a doubling down on wokeism, not a move towards rational centrism.
And the Party of the Left, the Dems, have shown no ability to learn from the spanking they received on Nov 5. Rather than saying "We have nothing that normal voters support", they have doubled down on the "Trumpers are low-information deplorables" meme.
The woke left and the woke right are both sides of the massive division and hatred problem we have. I understand why reasonable anti-wokes don't want to be associated with *those people*, the far right. Liberals and conservatives have to publicly distance themselves from it. There are already conservatives who have moved away from what's become of 'conservatism' just as many liberals have done the same.
Just this morning before I got up I was reading about the American Civil War. I was struck by how divided and hateful America became, esp after Secession. Yet, eventually they came together. Now we're apart again. I'm not sure the result we're facing will be an endless cycle of woke right/woke left hateful and dividing dominance. The book I read about the Civil War was Neil Howe's The Fourth Turning, which describes the cycle humanity goes through to sort of purge the bad elements that need to be dealt with, and it's always very painful. We're in the middle of the most painful period, The Crisis. He anticipates this will last another 7-10 years (yes really). It's putting into perspective what we're going through including the horrorshow emerging in the US with the Orange Menace and his Weeder Whacker. I can see where there might be a bright spot in what they're doing even though it seems a godawful way to do it. The Democrats would NEVER have tried to cut down government bloat (I'll be writing about this in the next few weeks). They would have used manicure scissors. Elon Musk is using a bulldozer when some garden shears and maybe a machete in a few places would do a much better job. I don't approve of the way they're doing it but I also see a glimmer of light in all of it. In fact, as godawful as Trumpocalypse II has been, as anxious and depressed as I get sometimes, esp if he decides to REALLY attack Canada, I STILL see some hope in what he's doing...and I take heart that Howe notes that we usually enter a Golden Age where things get better after that. Of course, it could go the other way too...an extended very long dark winter that doesn't end in the mid-30s. Trump's alliance with Putin really bothers me a lot, along with their meeting in Saudi Arabia. Are they going to agree to make the world even safer for Islamic extremism?
Anyway, folks, we've got to start fighting the recycled woke left tropes that the right will now use: If we disagree with them we're filthy libtards, woke, progressive, liberals, you name it. BUT now that we realize the two extremes are twins who don't get along, we know their playbook. We know what to expect from them. And let's shut down their illiberalism ASAP.
Woke is a racist and divisive parasitic toxic mind virus that derives from a fake scholarship radical ideology of 3rd wave feminists and malcontent socialist academics. Being anti-woke is like being anti-cancer. It is a righteous and beneficial thing for humanity.
I was canceled by the Woke bookstore In Oklahoma City a week ago.... This is a few months after hosting a investigative journalism workshop with Pulitzer winner Gretchen Morgansen and was planning on hosting Catherine Liu there soon..... This was all generated by the grand wizard of Wokelahoma, The uneducated unemployed partner of a decent city councilwoman .....So yeah, the anti-anti-woke backlash is here.
George, please let go of spurious arguments about the weaker female sex. Many feminists accept, for example, that we need women’s sport separate from men if it requires strength that women cannot have in order to fairly compete against men, But humans are resourceful and there are many activities where we have developed technologies to overcome strength differences eg driving a modern truck,firing a gun from an electronic drone, etc.
Thank you for demonstrating the truth of my comments. And, no, women do not have equal upper body strength to men. Women should not be infantry troops. They can be pilots, they can be button-pushers, but they should not be carrying guns on the front line.
In addition, when you cannot figure out how to reply to another comment, and put your reply on the main board, it makes me question your competence.
Since you seem unable to use the comment system correctly, here is a very quick guide. If you want to make an original comment unrelated to others, put it into the box at the top. If you want to reply to another comment, click "Reply" under that comment and enter your comments.
I refer to my underlying, spontaneous feelings in this regard. (I'm old enough to be comfortable doing this, or else I've always managed to combine feelings and thought comfortably.) Critical Race Theory, when I encountered it stuck at home reading during Covid, made me uncomfortable. I had to determine whether I was just being "fragile" and defensive or justifiably angry that "these people" were trying to impose guilt on an old liberal who had been struggling with social justice all her life. From the start, my theological training and understanding of the history of Christianity came in handy: it was easy to see here was a fledgling ideology that had not yet found balance: they'd left out forgiveness, redemption, and the universality of sin ("you're racist but I'm not")
I allow myself to acknowledge feelings that come from my cultural childhood. We boomers learned to open up to (and practice) wider expressions of sexuality, but the earlier learned reactions are still there, which is why I can easily understand the cultural fears of MAGA voters. I myself wouldn't take a toddler to a drag queen story hour. HOWEVER, this image is what helps me understand the struggle described here. I've found myself thinking, "maybe I shouldn't be so hard on those drag queen library volunteers."
Nevertheless, I feel no need to ally myself emotionally or intellectually with one extreme just because there's a backlash from the other extreme. Moderation is my byword (and I'm not alone in this.) I'll continue with the attitude of a plague on both houses. Trump and DOGE are so being so excessive that it seems adequate to continually prod the right (especially women on the right) by pointing out how much they have to lose. For example, they may not call themselves feminists, but there are plenty of professionals and bread-earners among them who know that "competent white men" are often anything but. Also, alas, I'm gloomily waiting for young administration staffers with their pencil skirts, long hair and false eyelashes to realize the the culture of sexual harassment in the office is back.
I did read the Free Press article and whilst some of it is worrying (and depressing) I also kind of wondered what version of 𝕏 the author was using, because it isn't really like mine.
Take, for example, the statement that "Since Trump’s win in November, the extreme right has completely taken over the platform . . ."
Eh?
They haven't (yet) taken over the bits of 𝕏 that constitute my feed at any rate.
That being said, wasn't this illiberal counter-woke reaction exactly what many people have, for years, been warning about? Didn't many of us (including myself) say that the end result of all of the racist claptrap that is DEI and CRT would be to make society *more* racist?
By putting the "cause of the day" on a pedestal, and rigidly clamping down on expressions of disquiet about that (for *years*), all they've done is to paint a big target on whatever "cause of the day" they claimed to want to support.
It is of course very wrong to go after those on the pedestal instead of those who *put* them on the pedestal, but it is at least partly understandable. We've had years and years of this illiberal crap masquerading as 'compassion' and many people are, understandably, extremely angry. Unfortunately, if this Free Press article represents some degree of truth, then this anger is currently being directed at the wrong target.
So we have a bunch of angry people simply lashing out, finally able to vent their frustration at the *years* of suppression (and going after the wrong targets) and this has been (allegedly) going on for, what, a few weeks? It's still wrong, I admit, but let's see how the oscillations settle down before claiming catastrophe, perhaps?
We also probably have a lot of genuinely nasty idiots who now feel more free to express their crappy views. We should let them - and argue against them.
What we need to be wary of is *any* attempt (right or left, woke or non-woke, or whatever) to restrict that necessary discussion.
There's also an aspect of this in which I would want a better view of what, exactly, is being described as "extreme right". Many of us still remember that those of us who shared MLK's dream were described as 'racist', for example. If that's being racist, then it's a badge I'll happily wear.
But, yes, we do have to keep a careful eye on this backlash. And the same principles we have stood by all along need to come to play - debate (however vigorous) is the way forward.
Oscillations don't "settle down", not when there are a bunch of people on each side saying, alternately in turn whenever it's their turn to serve the ball, "I/we have been feeling so unfairly put upon! We're just letting off steam! It's our turn now and it's harmless just desserts!!"
Ok then, tell me in advance how much satisfaction will be sufficient for those currently letting off steam to say, ah, ok we're done now and now we're going to completely change behaviors and hew to the deeply-felt commitment to human rights that we've had all along.
Tell me in advance how, when, and why that mass transition of behavior will take place, and I will mark my calendar.
Pro tip #1: people who are in fact deeply committed to human rights and the non-discriminatory, non-abusive, non-chest-thumping, non-sslf-excusing behavior that goes along with that commitment are never inclined to take "a turn" bashing the other side when they get the chance.
Pro tip #2: people so bashed by other people "taking their turn" are never inclined to say, "oh gee that's ok they're just taking their turn to which they are rightfully entitled".
In fact if you and other "turn takers" will think about it, the leftish-woke claimed that "turn taking" was a cardinal justification for their behavior. Stop and think. Then after doing that, continue stopping.
The Never Trumpers were right all long. If Democrats are smart they’ll find a Bill Clinton type who emphasizes universal healthcare, “work hard and play by the rules,” making abortion “safe, legal and rare” and who isn’t afraid to fund 100k new cops.
Will never happen. It’s not the 90s anymore and all those positions eventually conflict with each other
Bill Clinton and universal Health Care sounds funny together.... I guess at least you didn't say Obama.
Bill Clinton ran on universal healthcare in 1992. It was a key part of his platform.
Vote for me and I’ll give you a lot of someone else’s money.
Teased..
There is something here of value. However, I am not 100% sure how much.
Take "racism". This term, as we all know, is chucked around with abandon. Certain people are now telling the truth. "Blacks are more likely than whites to be involved in crime". This is 100% true. Is this the "racist statements are increasing" stuff? How about "black academics have lower bars to tenure and success than do white academics", which again is 100% true (I can give examples). Is this the kind of statement leading to the charge of racism?
Take "sexism". "Women should not be in the infantry" - this statement is considered true by a lot of people including Pete Hegseth, Sec Defense. Why do they agree with this statement? Women have much lower upper body strength than do men. Since women have been going into the military, almost none have succeeded in passing the admission tests for Navy Seals and the like. Is this the "increase in sexism"?
I have said, over and over and over, that AfD is not a Nazi party, but is a patriotic anti-immigrant party. They are rising due to the tidal wave of illegals, 99% of whom are Muslim young men, who have invaded Germany. This kind of statement used to be suppressed but is now able to be made. Is this the "rise in xenophobia"?
Like many discussions of "problems in the world", this discussion is free of actual examples. What specifically are statements which are being made that are inappropriate? Give examples, Helen.
My point is that a lot of statements about things that are true that are now being allowed to be said. Cancel culture has receded from the social media platforms. These statements are often true, but considered by SJW/Woke to be "ism" statements.
Great article and spot on and the rabid right like the rabid illogical left won’t know what’s happening until it’s too late
Stand against both. Carve a path of truth and sense. Or sign the contract that makes you the ball in a game of who can spit shit the furthest.
Fair points all. The problem is the Left has shown almost no signs of moderation. The rhetoric, new leadership, and vibes all suggest a doubling down on wokeism, not a move towards rational centrism.
And the Party of the Left, the Dems, have shown no ability to learn from the spanking they received on Nov 5. Rather than saying "We have nothing that normal voters support", they have doubled down on the "Trumpers are low-information deplorables" meme.
Saw someone comment recently, “pendulums swing fastest when they’re at the bottom,” and I keep thinking about that.
What we need now is the "anti anti anti" followed by the 4x-anti. (I'm using the 4x for simpler notation).
Is that snarky? Maybe. Or maybe we are too worried about absurd categories of silly (online) behavior.
To say your "not not not" is just logically foolish. It's oblivion.
Identity politics is broken. Period. End of story.
Time to move on. No more anti-whatever.
What are you FOR?
Thank you for standing firm, Helen.
Exactly
The woke left and the woke right are both sides of the massive division and hatred problem we have. I understand why reasonable anti-wokes don't want to be associated with *those people*, the far right. Liberals and conservatives have to publicly distance themselves from it. There are already conservatives who have moved away from what's become of 'conservatism' just as many liberals have done the same.
Just this morning before I got up I was reading about the American Civil War. I was struck by how divided and hateful America became, esp after Secession. Yet, eventually they came together. Now we're apart again. I'm not sure the result we're facing will be an endless cycle of woke right/woke left hateful and dividing dominance. The book I read about the Civil War was Neil Howe's The Fourth Turning, which describes the cycle humanity goes through to sort of purge the bad elements that need to be dealt with, and it's always very painful. We're in the middle of the most painful period, The Crisis. He anticipates this will last another 7-10 years (yes really). It's putting into perspective what we're going through including the horrorshow emerging in the US with the Orange Menace and his Weeder Whacker. I can see where there might be a bright spot in what they're doing even though it seems a godawful way to do it. The Democrats would NEVER have tried to cut down government bloat (I'll be writing about this in the next few weeks). They would have used manicure scissors. Elon Musk is using a bulldozer when some garden shears and maybe a machete in a few places would do a much better job. I don't approve of the way they're doing it but I also see a glimmer of light in all of it. In fact, as godawful as Trumpocalypse II has been, as anxious and depressed as I get sometimes, esp if he decides to REALLY attack Canada, I STILL see some hope in what he's doing...and I take heart that Howe notes that we usually enter a Golden Age where things get better after that. Of course, it could go the other way too...an extended very long dark winter that doesn't end in the mid-30s. Trump's alliance with Putin really bothers me a lot, along with their meeting in Saudi Arabia. Are they going to agree to make the world even safer for Islamic extremism?
Anyway, folks, we've got to start fighting the recycled woke left tropes that the right will now use: If we disagree with them we're filthy libtards, woke, progressive, liberals, you name it. BUT now that we realize the two extremes are twins who don't get along, we know their playbook. We know what to expect from them. And let's shut down their illiberalism ASAP.
Woke is a racist and divisive parasitic toxic mind virus that derives from a fake scholarship radical ideology of 3rd wave feminists and malcontent socialist academics. Being anti-woke is like being anti-cancer. It is a righteous and beneficial thing for humanity.
I was canceled by the Woke bookstore In Oklahoma City a week ago.... This is a few months after hosting a investigative journalism workshop with Pulitzer winner Gretchen Morgansen and was planning on hosting Catherine Liu there soon..... This was all generated by the grand wizard of Wokelahoma, The uneducated unemployed partner of a decent city councilwoman .....So yeah, the anti-anti-woke backlash is here.
Meet the new Woke boss, same as the old Woke boss.
yup... ready to come out swinging at this idiots this time though, as we all should be. Look what its done....imagine what it'll bring next..
George, please let go of spurious arguments about the weaker female sex. Many feminists accept, for example, that we need women’s sport separate from men if it requires strength that women cannot have in order to fairly compete against men, But humans are resourceful and there are many activities where we have developed technologies to overcome strength differences eg driving a modern truck,firing a gun from an electronic drone, etc.
Thank you for demonstrating the truth of my comments. And, no, women do not have equal upper body strength to men. Women should not be infantry troops. They can be pilots, they can be button-pushers, but they should not be carrying guns on the front line.
In addition, when you cannot figure out how to reply to another comment, and put your reply on the main board, it makes me question your competence.
Since you seem unable to use the comment system correctly, here is a very quick guide. If you want to make an original comment unrelated to others, put it into the box at the top. If you want to reply to another comment, click "Reply" under that comment and enter your comments.
Yep, Republicans and Democrats are two cheeks of the same ass shitting on we the people.
The only growing "party" are independents. Who represents independents? Not Bernie who claims he is one.
I refer to my underlying, spontaneous feelings in this regard. (I'm old enough to be comfortable doing this, or else I've always managed to combine feelings and thought comfortably.) Critical Race Theory, when I encountered it stuck at home reading during Covid, made me uncomfortable. I had to determine whether I was just being "fragile" and defensive or justifiably angry that "these people" were trying to impose guilt on an old liberal who had been struggling with social justice all her life. From the start, my theological training and understanding of the history of Christianity came in handy: it was easy to see here was a fledgling ideology that had not yet found balance: they'd left out forgiveness, redemption, and the universality of sin ("you're racist but I'm not")
I allow myself to acknowledge feelings that come from my cultural childhood. We boomers learned to open up to (and practice) wider expressions of sexuality, but the earlier learned reactions are still there, which is why I can easily understand the cultural fears of MAGA voters. I myself wouldn't take a toddler to a drag queen story hour. HOWEVER, this image is what helps me understand the struggle described here. I've found myself thinking, "maybe I shouldn't be so hard on those drag queen library volunteers."
Nevertheless, I feel no need to ally myself emotionally or intellectually with one extreme just because there's a backlash from the other extreme. Moderation is my byword (and I'm not alone in this.) I'll continue with the attitude of a plague on both houses. Trump and DOGE are so being so excessive that it seems adequate to continually prod the right (especially women on the right) by pointing out how much they have to lose. For example, they may not call themselves feminists, but there are plenty of professionals and bread-earners among them who know that "competent white men" are often anything but. Also, alas, I'm gloomily waiting for young administration staffers with their pencil skirts, long hair and false eyelashes to realize the the culture of sexual harassment in the office is back.