I Realize That There Is Nuance In Individual Beliefs And That Politics Is A Spectrum. But Do You Think

Do you guys think that when he was recording "Whiskey for My Men, Beer for My Horses" Toby Keith had any idea that Willie Nelson would outlive him?

Due to some ✨childhood trauma✨ I used to be so anxious about having political discussions. I've always been interested in politics and that autistic boner for social justice, and I believed that by "winning" "debates" I could change the way the other person and/or audience thought, and ideally make them agree with me.

As I've aged the goal has been more to correct misinformation because obviously they've been lied to and don't have the right data or they would already agree? Possibly because I myself have always been learning, gathering more context, adjusting my ideas and beliefs, etc. (For example, as a teenager I didn't understand affirmative action, so I didn't agree with it. That has thankfully changed.)

There's a lot wrong with this approach and this thinking, which I'm working on (thanks therapy). But one of those things that is almost relieving is that data doesn't convince people whose egos are on the line, because nothing does. Once you have determined that your sense of self relies and self-worth relies on an ideology, nothing will sway you, because you'd have to admit you were wrong, or that you caused harm. (For some people, admitting the former is harder than admitting the latter.)

The one that gets me the most riled up is tRaNs WoMeN iN wOmEnS sPoRtS, period, but ESPECIALLY when combined with the MeN cAn DrEsS uP aS wOmEn AnD iNvAdE tHe pUbLiC bAtHrOoMs bullshit. Because I don't think there is any clearer sign that you don't actually give a single shit about women's safety than bringing up those two talking points in the same argument. Even IF either one of these things was a real concern for ANY cis woman, the idea that being beaten in a sport is on the same level as being assaulted is sickening. There is no faster way to show me you have zero understanding of the dangers that non-cis-men face or fear.

it’s crazy how grrm wrote the first woke beauty and the beast where a hot guy falls in love with an ugly woman and people will bend over backwards still to say brienne is actually attractive. like no she’s not and it’s not more feminist to say she is 👍

Rewatching YOU in anticipation of the final season, and season 1 is so damn good. The acting, the writing, the editing, the ACTING. Lail and Badgely are fucking phenomenal.

I'm definitely biased because I love the book so much but damn. There are so many bangers in this season.

"One day you won't need love anymore."

"It is EXHAUSTING being your friend."

"Get the batter off the ladle while it's wet."

"From every boy masquerading as a man that you let into your body, your heart, you learned you didn't have whatever magic turns a beast into a prince."

Anyway this show got real silly but the first season is amazing.

This internal contradiction of conservative politics is even more stark when you look at what they say versus what they do.

Going back to the tRaNs WoMeN iN tHe BaThRoOmS bullshit, the fact that you even talk about this shows not only how little you understand about the trans community, but also how delusional you are when it comes to actual crime against non-cis-men.

You wanna protect women? How about stop putting abusive men in positions of power. Stop trying to force women to stay with the person who is statistically most likely to murder them by cutting off abortion rights and no-fault divorce. Stop cutting programs that help the biggest portion of poor people in our society, which is children and single mothers. Start actually prosecuting rapists AND sentencing them like you believe rape is actually a crime. Stop raising boys to believe that their feelings are the most important thing on earth and that any woman who doesn't cater to them should be demeaned, abused, or killed. Stop passing legislation that ensures more women will die because they can't abort a fetus they don't want. Stop ignoring and perpetuating the systems that make Black women and WOC more likely to die in childbirth and more likely to receive inadequate medical care. Start funding more research on female bodies and ending male-centered medicine. Start passing and enforcing regulations to decrease the gender wage gap which at this point is mostly a motherhood penalty. Stop trying to pass legislation that will make it harder for married women to VOTE.

That's how you protect women. Not by scapegoating marginalized groups and pretending like you ever gave a fuck.

Did I mention that this woman is so beautiful but like not in a stalkery way?

Some info to remember later:

92.7% of households in the US make less than $250,000/year.

Half of American households make less than $75,000/year. (The median is $80,000.)

27% of households in the US make less than $40,000/year. (The poverty line for a family of 4 is $30,000.)

The income tax rate increases as income increases until $600,000, where it's capped at 37%.

This means that someone earning a billion dollars a year pays the same percentage in taxes as someone who earns a million in a year. And both of them are richer than 9/10 American households.

reblog to explode a landlord

Another thing I've realized is that debate "topics" are not and should not be viewed as existing in a vacuum, and I honestly think that conservatives/right-leaning thinkers push this idea because they know, unconsciously or otherwise, that their ideology is internally inconsistent.

For example, take the abortion debate and the antivax debate. In the latter conservatives will argue that people have the right to choose what happens to their bodies, that the safety of others should be considered secondary or not at all, that their autonomy should come first. And those same people will argue that the life of a fetus is more important than the life of its parent, that the fetus overwrites the autonomy of the parent and that the parent should have no right to end the pregnancy regardless of their feelings on it.

Obviously there are other arguments on both topics out there, but as an example, you can see how disingenuous the thinking is. Somehow the life of an unborn zygote is more important than the life of its creator and the right of its parents to make stupid medical decisions is more important than the safety of all the kids in its future daycare.