Inflammatory Politics
Look, I appear to get worked up about a lot of things but there's only this one thing I'm really passionate about, right?
I'm a good little lefty and I pretend like I see all sides of the argument like we well-behaved, educated Liberals should. I tear Michael Moore a new one for his sensationalism and fact-stretching and I say that "crazy" Lefties are just as bad as "crazy" conservatives. I have that weary cynicism about young people and their "competitive", "loopy" and "unrealistic" lefty attitudes that are obviously put on so that they can impress others with how edgy and progressive they are.
But ok, y'know.
When the protests began in Iran I was chewing my lip nervously. I've never been in the position where I've had to fear my government and so I cannot fathom the bravery it would take to speak and act out against a fundamentalist dictatorship (even though I know I know I know the government really only has as much power as people are willing to give it). I was more terrified for them than truly cognizant of what was happening. A day or two after they started I asked my mother if she'd heard about them and she just pumped her fist excitedly and said: "Yes. Isn't it amazing!"
This shit gives me hope, guys. It should give all of us hope. Look at all those people- we can't even hope to fathom how utterly, how stunningly, how amazingly brave these people are and every single one of them is marching for their fellow Iranians as much as they are marching for themselves. A dictatorship by definition thrives by offering a better deal to self-serving individuals- the men in that crowd aren't just marching because they want media reform, they're marching for the stifled rights of their sisters/mothers/wives/daughters as well.
Look, I'll admit it: what we currently (in Western discourse, I mean) define as "Right Wing" politics are an amalgamation of backwards, selfish, unsustainable ideas that stagnant ever more year by year. A political spectrum does not mean we should hold on to ideas and methods forever, otherwise we'd still be defining conservatism as monarchy or some stupid shit like that. Modern "conservatism" is a cancer and I just can't politely nod along and grant it any sort of legitimacy like I used too. I have a gut feeling that it only experienced/is experiencing a renaissance because it's in the beginning stages of some pretty epic Death Throes.
Fuck being a "reasonable" Liberal- I won't lie: I'm happy I'll be alive to witness that particular passing.
Brave protesters, thank you for proving the better aspects of human nature that we- in our leisure and comfort- often discount and forget.
♥
I'm a good little lefty and I pretend like I see all sides of the argument like we well-behaved, educated Liberals should. I tear Michael Moore a new one for his sensationalism and fact-stretching and I say that "crazy" Lefties are just as bad as "crazy" conservatives. I have that weary cynicism about young people and their "competitive", "loopy" and "unrealistic" lefty attitudes that are obviously put on so that they can impress others with how edgy and progressive they are.
But ok, y'know.
When the protests began in Iran I was chewing my lip nervously. I've never been in the position where I've had to fear my government and so I cannot fathom the bravery it would take to speak and act out against a fundamentalist dictatorship (even though I know I know I know the government really only has as much power as people are willing to give it). I was more terrified for them than truly cognizant of what was happening. A day or two after they started I asked my mother if she'd heard about them and she just pumped her fist excitedly and said: "Yes. Isn't it amazing!"
This shit gives me hope, guys. It should give all of us hope. Look at all those people- we can't even hope to fathom how utterly, how stunningly, how amazingly brave these people are and every single one of them is marching for their fellow Iranians as much as they are marching for themselves. A dictatorship by definition thrives by offering a better deal to self-serving individuals- the men in that crowd aren't just marching because they want media reform, they're marching for the stifled rights of their sisters/mothers/wives/daughters as well.
Look, I'll admit it: what we currently (in Western discourse, I mean) define as "Right Wing" politics are an amalgamation of backwards, selfish, unsustainable ideas that stagnant ever more year by year. A political spectrum does not mean we should hold on to ideas and methods forever, otherwise we'd still be defining conservatism as monarchy or some stupid shit like that. Modern "conservatism" is a cancer and I just can't politely nod along and grant it any sort of legitimacy like I used too. I have a gut feeling that it only experienced/is experiencing a renaissance because it's in the beginning stages of some pretty epic Death Throes.
Fuck being a "reasonable" Liberal- I won't lie: I'm happy I'll be alive to witness that particular passing.
Brave protesters, thank you for proving the better aspects of human nature that we- in our leisure and comfort- often discount and forget.
♥