Political Memes

What about the Revolutionary War.

We aren't more divided then ever, the divisions are just more visible. If you asked your average WASP in New England there opinion on Catholics a century ago they're liable to say way more vitriolic shit then a new england liberal talking about MAGA. It's just that guy from a century ago doesn't have a way to blast their nasty opinion on Catholics to everyone in the country.

Most people throughout history lived in racially, ethnically, ideologically and religiously homogeneous communities and thought everyone living outside that community was a barbarian, heretic, etc. it's just that they only talked to people in there community too so there opinions on the barbarians never left the community.

I mean… She’s taking the ambiguity in the original statement and using it to make a valid point about how the country has never healed the wounds of slavery, and the concepts of unity and division continue to play a significant role in racial oppression.

But also… In order to do it, she had to ignore the context of how the original statement tends to be used. Which is something like: “This information ecosystem pushes everyone to express a controversial opinion about every little thing, and willingly misread others’ words in the least charitable way possible in order to use them as fodder for establishing in-group status, and that leads to a political identity so far removed from the reality of lived experience that it can only exist as hot takes, memes, and clap-backs.”

And in that sense… Her words aren’t wrong, but her words also aren’t the actual message. The actual message is: “Any time someone complains that social media creates a hostile, divisive environment of one-upsmanship over phrases, you can one-up them with this phrase”.

Also: I am aware that I’m also trying to one-up a social media post on social media! It’s status games all the way down, as Andrew Potter points out in this interview on The Authenticity Hoax. Successfully contrasting against the prevailing culture is how the prevailing culture gets built. I just… hope we start to build a culture that’s more critical of the way the tech fascists abuse that cultural pump to their own benefit.

Anyone trying to normalize this shit seems like a bigger danger.

I mean the "freedom of speech" and "gun ownership" are deeply rooted in racism and slavery, simply by changing the terms to create an ambiguity of "freedom" but only when select people can afford that freedom.

Same goes for MAGA. It sounds perfect, because why would anyone be against making your country great, but in reality, It stands for bringing back racism.

USA is a representative of how the corrupt create malicious policies under innocuous messaging.

I kinda feel like that inhumanization/abject racism never went away though. Sure slavery and segregation were outlawed but some assholes found legal loopholes. On top of that, class warfare has been escalated by the owning class. They’ve found new ways of targeting other minority groups. Fuck, they brought back concentration camps. I respect the sentiment they’re going for here, though. Checking your biases and privilege t every step is a good way to live life in a society.

Fuckin truth. Division is a feature of capitalism not a bug

This is pretty heartening. Between integration and the internet, I don't think we've ever been closer as a country/maybe world.

My tin foil hat theory is that this is the cause of the disinformation that's so endemic.

Of course one can't understate the danger and damage that is fueling division.