It happened fast. I was friends and family with plenty of people who were good, normal people, by any metric I was aware of, for most of my life. Cousins who were like best friends. Good friends who were like cousins. People who were like aunts and uncles to me. Always nice to me. Always nice to others as far as I know. And then everyone got on Facebook, and within like five years the idiocy was starting to spread.
Like 10 years ago in social media I confronted ohe of these folks, the daughter of some purple heart vet., on the issue of flag burning. I agree with the Supreme Court on this, and decades of firm precedent built on centuries of custom: that it is absolutely not a job of government to say what is orthodox in speech or thought; that if freedom of speech means anything at all, it means we have the right to burn the symbol of our country. Though you can say whatever you want about someone who burns the flag, the law is powerless to stop them; I mean, you have to have a fire extinguisher nearby and you cant do it inside a building, or you might risk a charge of reckless endangerment or breach of peace, but no crume could be chsrged on the basis that you burned one particular flag and not another. If you’re a patriot, stand up for that. If you fought for this country, that’s what you fought for. If you love America, you’d love that people can burn a flag.
And there was a wave of people who I knew to have been mostly reasonable and likable, who joined in this person as if I was Un-American.
I get it. The initial, bodily response to someone burning your flag is revulsion. None of these people could go further. Turns out, all of them were only nice to me because I was nice to them first. If they had felt threatened by me, their initial bodily response would have won the day.
They were not raised well. They were not permitted to express their emotions, let alone face them, and never learned to control that first gut reaction.
Hey, I have a great idea. Let’s see what they think!
Hey ya’ll, should criminals go free if the smoking gun evidence was obtained without a warrant?
Hey, is it cruel and unusual for the state to execute someone who just committed the most heinous crimes?
Yo, should criminals even when they’re like ones who are cruel to animals or children all have a right to due process?
Say, mind if some of us take a knee during this song most revered by everyone you know and respect?
Hey, there’s some folks that really need help, they had an unjust and unfair shake, also, they don’t look anything like you, should we help them?
“Nah, can’t think think about it for five seconds before forming a strong opinion based on emotional gut reactions, good luck changing it, libtard!”
It happened fast. I was friends and family with plenty of people who were good, normal people, by any metric I was aware of, for most of my life. Cousins who were like best friends. Good friends who were like cousins. People who were like aunts and uncles to me. Always nice to me. Always nice to others as far as I know. And then everyone got on Facebook, and within like five years the idiocy was starting to spread.
Like 10 years ago in social media I confronted ohe of these folks, the daughter of some purple heart vet., on the issue of flag burning. I agree with the Supreme Court on this, and decades of firm precedent built on centuries of custom: that it is absolutely not a job of government to say what is orthodox in speech or thought; that if freedom of speech means anything at all, it means we have the right to burn the symbol of our country. Though you can say whatever you want about someone who burns the flag, the law is powerless to stop them; I mean, you have to have a fire extinguisher nearby and you cant do it inside a building, or you might risk a charge of reckless endangerment or breach of peace, but no crume could be chsrged on the basis that you burned one particular flag and not another. If you’re a patriot, stand up for that. If you fought for this country, that’s what you fought for. If you love America, you’d love that people can burn a flag.
And there was a wave of people who I knew to have been mostly reasonable and likable, who joined in this person as if I was Un-American.
I get it. The initial, bodily response to someone burning your flag is revulsion. None of these people could go further. Turns out, all of them were only nice to me because I was nice to them first. If they had felt threatened by me, their initial bodily response would have won the day.
They were not raised well. They were not permitted to express their emotions, let alone face them, and never learned to control that first gut reaction.
Hey, I have a great idea. Let’s see what they think!
Hey ya’ll, should criminals go free if the smoking gun evidence was obtained without a warrant?
Hey, is it cruel and unusual for the state to execute someone who just committed the most heinous crimes?
Yo, should criminals even when they’re like ones who are cruel to animals or children all have a right to due process?
Say, mind if some of us take a knee during this song most revered by everyone you know and respect?
Hey, there’s some folks that really need help, they had an unjust and unfair shake, also, they don’t look anything like you, should we help them?
“Nah, can’t think think about it for five seconds before forming a strong opinion based on emotional gut reactions, good luck changing it, libtard!”