We have found ourselves in a state of great division not only in the US but in the greater Western world. We’ve always had political differences but our world seems to be more divided than ever now. And although we’ve heard this before I don't ever recall discussion about potential civil wars or national divorces in modern history, which I think is saying something! We can argue whether it's the left or the right that's gone crazy but the reality is we are becoming increasingly not a country divided between left and right but between crazy and sane, extreme and rational. Those with the loudest voices seem to be the ones with the most outlandish perspectives. In the US it seems to be stemming from a combination of a Donald Trump presidency hangover (many vehemently opposed or unconditionally loved him) and the Covid pandemic that has created an environment ripe with mental illness. This environment seems to have been taken advantage of by those with nefarious purposes to push bizarre political agendas and crazy or extreme ideas.
These agendas are fortunately opposed by most sane Americans but that's not stopping politicians and business leaders from pushing them. From defund the police to teaching sexuality and transgenderism to kindergartners to most recently abortion, the ‘culture war’ is once again upon us and this time more fiery than ever! We’re used to culture wars, but something feels very different this time. Throughout the years the contentious issue of abortion, religion, and ideas on morality have often popped up usually during election seasons. But we are in a much different world than we’ve ever been with social media. With social media we can reach those like minded all over the world. We can share information and not have to rely on traditional media. We no longer have to wait for the morning or afternoon newspaper for our news. Now everyone can be a journalist and everyone has got an opinion. But with so many opinions, news sources, and lies presented as facts it's hard to know what is the truth. We've gone from a desert of info to swimming in it, yet are not as knowledgeable or informed as we’d all like to think despite the constant influx of info. Our perceptions are increasingly shaped by our friends, social media and echo chambers which is making us all more ‘tribal’ and is limiting our perspectives.
Although there are true differences between those on the political left and right there is no doubt a significant amount of misunderstanding between the two groups, fueled in part by social media and dishonesty in the traditional media. Because we increasingly receive our news from biased sources (even if we don't want to admit it) we often do not fully understand the stances of each other. Many of us have gotten to the point of avoiding those we disagree with. It's hard to make compromises and be civil when you can’t even listen to the arguments of your opponents. Let me offer some examples.
When I hear the word ‘consent’ being taught in elementary school I immediately think the worst. Because of all the bizarre videos and shocking stories you hear about in schools my mind goes to a dark place. Why do you want to teach a young child about sexual consent? What business do kindergartners have hearing about this level of sex? What does this mean? After reading about this concept it actually seems to be a decent notion. Discussions about consent seem to consist of teaching young kids to not hit or hurt their friends, respecting boundaries, keeping hands to ourselves, not giving someone a hug if they clearly don't want it. These are all things that I, as a conservative wholeheartedly agree with. Kids should absolutely be taught to not unnecessarily touch their fellow classmates. But I think the word ‘consent’ however is misplaced and creates misunderstandings. A better term like ‘boundaries’ or ‘bodily autonomy’ would be more appropriate. The definition of consent generally refers to sex so by using this term, liberals are automatically inviting criticism. The cynic in me thinks maybe this is purposeful. Maybe this allows some cover on the part of the teachers who may paint the parents as irrational for objecting to teaching kids not to hit. But the word consent is not correct in this sense. It’s important that parents take a moment to thoroughly research concepts before giving criticism.
We’ve seen a recent rise in attention to the concept of indoctrination, specifically regarding kids in what most view as leftist or ‘woke’ ideology. Many object to the approach of providing info on sexuality and gender ideology to children at very young ages and without parent’s permission. The term many conservatives and non-liberals use to describe this phenomenon is ‘grooming’. There has been an understandable objection from adherents of ‘woke’ ideology to the term ‘grooming’. They say conservatives are calling them pedophiles and saying they’re personally trying to sexually assault students in their care. But just like with the term consent, there is more than meets the eye. When we call these people ‘groomers’ we do not necessarily mean a specific teacher is trying to sexually assault a specific student. Although sexual assaults do exist in schools, reasonable parents know most teachers are not sex offenders! However we do believe there is clearly some type of grooming going on.
The definition of grooming can be defined as “when someone builds a relationship, trust and emotional connection with a child or young person so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them.” Whether or not you agree with this definition, grooming does not necessarily mean that any specific person is being groomed for sex. By indoctrinating kids often without parent’s permission to what is a controversial political ideology, this is grooming in some form. There is a YouTube channel called Amaze that is marketed toward kids that contains many controversial cartoon videos about sex and gender. There is one particular video about oral sex that says oral sex is not sex unless the young person decides it’s sex (yes, you heard me right watch the video if you can stomach it). When children are being instructed that certain types of sexual activities are not necessarily sex, this is grooming. An adult can coerce a child into engaging in oral sex while claiming the child gets to decide what the sexual act is. The process of grooming works to break down the child’s boundaries. The groomer works to build trust. Then the groomer can take advantage of the child’s trust, confusion, and lack of boundaries. This is what conservatives mean when we say groomers. If liberals understood this, I imagine most of them would be in agreement with us.
So we have those on the right adamant that everyone on the left are sick ‘groomers’ who want to sexulize young kids (not going to lie I have fallen into this trap as well). But we also have those on the left who think that the mere existence of another opinion is ‘literal violence’ and that if you don't want your child to learn about LGBT+ ideology you are a bigot or transphobe. Extremes on both sides are sucking all the oxygen out of the room while the vast majority of people are somewhere in the middle. Leftists are well intentioned in trying to make life inclusive to what they believe are a marginalized and vulnerable group. And right wingers are right to worry about what is being taught to their children at school and the consequences to us all from this ‘woke’ ideology that seems to be proliferating across our society.
These are just a couple of easy examples of how using simple terms has skewed the perspectives of so many who will in turn refuse to even entertain the thought that the other side may have a point or a good idea. Abortion is another issue where both sides are not entirely understanding the issue, the law, or each side’s position. Each side thinks oddly that the other side is harming women and women’s rights. Just a few weeks ago we didn't seem to know what a woman was and now suddenly everyone is trying to paint themselves as the companion of women’s rights. It’s interesting to note how our personal perspectives shape our politics.
What we need now are conversations. We need to be able to sit down and hash this stuff out. We need to stop talking and start listening. And I think it's important that we speak openly and express how we feel about our opponents. For example, as a woman I feel very hurt by what I view as dehumanizing terms used toward women. To say women can’t be called ‘women’ or ‘mothers’ and instead must be called bizarre terms like ‘birthing person’ or ‘bleeder’ is very dehumanizing, degrading, and demoralizing. Not only is it nonsensical but none of these new terms includes all those who need to be included while removing those that do not belong. I feel very hurt by this. When women complain about this, we are often told this is inclusive language and we just need to accept these new terms without question. But what about our feelings? Is there a better way to include people while not dehumanizing women, like saying mothers and birthing people? Or women and trans women?
If we want to end this toxicity before we find ourselves in a much more dangerous situation we need to get out of the echo chamber and talk to each other. Get off social media (I know it’s hard) and talk to reasonable people in real life. Talk to your kid’s soccer coach about an issue that you don't agree with. Share your thoughts with your friend on recent contentious issues. Start conversations with those you know if for no other reason than to gain new perspectives and practice your own ability to debate in a balanced and respectful way. It’s hard to hear perspectives of others who disagree with you but as a pluralistic democratic society we have to be able to do this respectfully. America has had its ups and downs throughout our 246 years. We’ve already had a bloody civil war, let’s not have another one!
Hi I'm back with more receipts. The flavor of the day is misogyny.
https://lesbian-rights-nz.org/shame-receipts/
Hey so I saw you were looking for woke homophobia/misgyny/racism on Twitter. I don't have Twitter so here is your link
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipN6bUPUugEzmNmC-nZTunsVPUtgAuMANMmoVSD1j5gmROqY5E53VSCukHKc8zSRHA?key=bTMzMDNKeC1vbkFkRjlqTHJKM284RU1IQ3JkSlF3