During COVID, when rage-spittled conservatives refused to wear masks because they decided it was nothing but liberal gesturing and sanctimony, I considered them dangerous lunatics. Now with the epidemiological part removed, the gestural trope remains, and one might conclude that conservatives were right all along.
They certainly were not. But this line of thought illustrates how gestural madness and extremism propel people into the opposite camp. Both sides are fueled by a noxious combination of 1. tribalism and 2. recoil from Those Horrible Assholes. We are no longer approaching an Israeli/Palestinian-type situation. We're there.
I look Right and I see gestural stupidity and extremism. I look Left and I see gestural stupidity and extremism. So I choose the rational center. In Portugal.
"BUT JIM, AN INVITATION TO OPTIONALLY WEAR MASKS HARDLY TICKS THE METER IN A WEEK WHERE MAGA IS DEVOURING THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT!"
Correct! But many in the crowds cheering on these extreme actions from the Right were driven to MAGA by disdain for extremism on the Left (few Americans have the self-restraint to gravitate moderately to center; their disgust impels more hyperbolic recoil).
And I invite you to go back and listen to Bernie Saunders speeches circa 2015, where he promised - with populist fire - sweeping, tectonic changes to institutions, while crowds roared appreciatively. Extremists only pretend to hate tyranny. What they really hate is the other side's tyrant.
2 comments:
Maybe wearing the mask and getting the VAX is sorta like being a good citizen..... It is like respecting Islam in the UK.... keeping the peace
Masking and vaccinating were good science AND good citizenry during the height of the pandemic. Still true for vaccine. But masking at this point is the progressive equivalent of a conservative’s flag pin. It’s entirely gestural.
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