Fear.
It's a pretty easy emotion to connect to. To latch on to. Fear for safety. Fear for others. Fear of others. Fear for the future. Fear of the future. I've seen a lot of that this week. It's understandable. We are beginning a march into a project 2025 future that promises to wreak a bit of havoc for a lot of people.
And a lot of people voted for it.
Anger.
It's a pretty easy emotion to connect to. It's right there. It's on the surface. You can grab it, and use it, and hurl it at others. Anger is fire, and the fire feels good. Especially when that rage is oh so righteous. That spurs the fight, and you know you can say or do anything because you're right. No one can take that away from you. Hook that shit to the veins, amiright?
And with that oh so righteous indignation we can get rid of the devil himself. Delete. Erase. Ostracize. Cancel.
For the past couple decades we on the left have leaned into a very clear narrative. Every good hero needs a villain, and if we telling the story are the hero, then we also need a villain. And boy howdy did we give ourselves one.
The Straight White Male.
That's all I need to say.
Straight White Male. Slavery. Racism. Sexism. Greed. Power. Rape. Institutionalized...well...everything. The person of privilege who created a system by which no other person can hope to achieve. Can hope to thrive. Can hope to maybe even survive.
And every person reading this knows at least one good Straight White Male. A person of compassion, and caring, and empathy, so obviously not ALL men.
But you can't even say that. To say the words "not all men" has become it's own special slur. Because of course not all men. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about the Straight White Male. Hell, even me writing this...you reading it...probably connects you to that anger, especially that righteous anger that is so easy, and feels so good. That villain is real. He the embodiment of evil. He is the bad guy in our narrative, and the passing of the last week has done nothing to disprove that.
Here's the problem, and trust me it is a problem. I have intentionally been capitalizing the words of the name of our villain Straight White Male. I am a straight white male. So even saying that with the lower case appellate I'm still easy to pass off. Sure...just another straight white male defending the Straight White Male. Because that's what it is right. No matter how good I may be...or perceived to be. No matter how bad...or badly perceived, the fact is I am a straight white male. I don't have a place in the conversation when talking about the injustices in the world. I am part of the problem. I am part of the problem because I am straight. And white.. And male.
Straight White Male has no face. He has no specific feature. He is simply the embodiment of evil.
Every straight white male has a face, and care, and ambition, but for nothing more than words alone every single straight white male is Straight White Male.
The worst thing the left ever did was create, and then lean into, and then embrace Cancel Culture. The left leaves no room for sin. No room for forgiveness. No room for change. If you're not perfect like me, then you have no value, and you have to leave. Leave forever, and leave in shame. The left fucking LOVES to signal their virtue. They love words like love, and empathy, and compassion...inasmuch as those words are only applied to victims or less privileged and marginalized. For the sinner there is none. There is only cancel. There is only ostracism. You are no longer welcome here. There is for you, no community here. And we all win, because everyone is safer now. Now we can heal. Now the bad person is gone.
The problem is cancel culture is cancer. It grows and grows and grows because that righteous indignation feels so good, and soon...every sin is equal to the worst sin. Any error, will get you removed. Say the wrong thing. Laugh at the wrong joke, watch the wrong show that was written by the wrong person who did the wrong thing twenty years ago, and you are no longer welcome in this circle. And our circle may be smaller...but at least it's safer.
You didn't have enough pity for victim? Didn't empathize enough for a marginalized group? Didn't donate enough money to the proper cause? Weren't sex positive enough? Thought someone's kink was weird? You weren't open minded enough? Didn't understand trans life and made fun of someone? Yer out. OUT.
And now our community may be a bit smaller...but at least it's safer. One less Straight White Male.
Smaller, but safer.
But oh shit...
Fuck...
Now everyone is paying attention to how righteous and open minded I am. I better signal that shit. I better put it up on every social media sight just how safe I am. How much I DO care about the community. I like it here, so I better sure as fuck make sure everyone knows just how right, and true, and perfect I am, and how I like the rest of this community am filled with empathy and compassion, and honor, and nobility, but I also need to include a little line about how imperfect I am, but also I'm not a sinner like...like...I'm not at all like Straight White Male. That guy's an asshole and we should definitely not show him any empathy or compassion, because I'm too open minded and blah blah blah fucking blah.
And so we signal our virtue. And we advertise our empathy and compassion, while we purge any and every intolerable. Without question. Post haste. Due Process is for the real courts. Court of public opinion? Guilty.
When someone in your community commits some sin, in some way violates your little moral playbook, you really do have two choices. Cast out, or Love in. There's only one right answer. I'll give you a hint. It's the one with love in it.
Casting out will almost always have worse results, and not work out as intended.
And now the crux. The real problem. The perhaps (hopefully not, but almost certainly) insurmountable problem.
The left incredibly and effectively, with almost surgical precision, villainized, and then ostracized the Straight White Male. Once removed from a community. Once informed that they are no longer welcome in one space, they will inevitably find a community that accepts them. The bigger problem there is that once accepted by a new community, why in the fucking goddamn world, would they ever return to the community that threw them away like garbage? Why?
So what did the left do?
They ostracized THE BIGGEST FUCKING VOTING BLOCK in the goddamn nation. The left told Straight White Male that they didn't want him, and there was no place for him here...so he went to the other side. Want to get him back? Of course you don't...because your cancel culture, and your narrative of villainy has convinced you that you're better off without him.
After all of the worst elements of project 2025 are implemented, tell me again how we're better off.
INTERLUDE: A SHORT SCENARIO
A large group of friends sharing lunch, when it is discovered that one of them doesn't share a value.
"Oh my god. You like that book by that author who said that terrible thing on twitter that time? I'm sorry you can't sit with us anymore. No...sorry...sorry. You clearly feel a different thing, and it's not the right thing, and I don't feel safe and you have to leave. GO."
"Thank god he's gone. We're so much safer now."
Next day. Same friends. Smaller group.
"Oh my god. You liked that comedian who told that joke that was kind of funny, but also hurtful and was not inclusive to all ideas, thoughts, styles and ways of life? I'm sorry you can't sit with us anymore. No...sorry...sorry. You clearly feel a different thing, and it's not the right thing, and I don't feel safe and you have to leave. GO."
"Oh look. He's going to go sit with yesterday's castoff. Well good riddance. They can just sit there and be evil, and think about what they've done. We're so much safer now."
Next day. Same friends. Smaller group.
"Oh my god. You liked that movie that was directed by that guy that said those racist things and made one of his actors cry? I'm sorry you can't sit with us anymore. No...sorry...sorry. You cleary feel a different thing and it's not the right thing, and I don't feel safe you have to leave. GO."
"Huh. I wonder why he's going to go sit at the horrible people table. They'll probably sit there and stew in their misery and wish they were good people like us and definitely learn their lesson. We're so much safer now."
And on.
and on.
and on.
Until it's almost election day. And the candidate on one side the professional politician with very clear ideas solid background, and viable leadership skills, verses the Devil himself.
Same group of friends, just much much smaller now.
"Oh my god the choice is so clear. She's so brilliant, and so good, and she'll save us all from the Devil himself. I don't even understand how anyone could vote for him. He can't even speak in coherent sentences, and his gameplan is clearly written out for anyone to see the entire dismantling of a system of checks and balances. This is so easy and obvious and we'll hardly even have to do any work at...wait..."
"Why is the Devil himself sitting over at the bad guys table? Wh...Why are they letting him. Wait...they're...they're laughing at his jokes. Why are they laughing at his jokes? Why are they having a good time? Why can't they see that it's the Devil himself? Hey guys...GUYS...come over here...come sit over here with us."
"Why are they laughing at us? I don't get it, why are they so mad at us? Why are they flipping us off and hate us so much? I don't...WE'RE THE GOOD GUYS"
"At least we're safer now."
End Scene
One of (and only one of many, but that's seriously a full other blog), Kamala's biggest mistakes was not going on the Joe Rogan podcast. I understand her reasons. Did he invite her in the 11th hour? Yes. Would he have asked her pointed, and difficult questions? Of course he would have. Did she have a million valid reasons why she shouldn't do it? Absolutely. Anyone and everyone can easily explain and justify why she didn't do that show, and every one of those explanations is one hundred percent valid, but excuses aside, that's not the message that was received.
I'm no fan of Mr. Rogan. I have a litany of perjoratives I could use to describe my feelings for the guy, but here's the thing. Joe Rogan has 14.5 million followers. His primary demographic is Straight White Male. When Kamala declined to do his show, regardless the reason or how valid that reason was, 14.5 million young voters got the message loud and clear. Fuck you. You're not worth it. Millions of Straight White Male were constantly and consistantly told...over and over again...that they were low impact voters. They weren't a focus. They didn't matter.
So they went to the guy who told them they did.
And we refuse to fucking learn the lesson.
Instead of realizing their value. Instead of recognizing their humanity. Instead we call them Nazis.
Yup. Nazis.
I guarantee you, I know this almost for absolute certain. You know a kind, good, person who voted for Trump. You do. You either call that person Nazi, or you make an exception for that one.
Thing is...if even half of project 2025 is implemented, Trump will be running again in 2028. If not him then someone just like him. Or worse.
If there is any hope of getting even part of the largest voting block in the nation back on the left, (and i'm not sure there is. Why come back to the people who spent the past decade villainizing) probably the first place to start is to stop calling them Nazis.
If we want them in our space, then we need to make space.
One more brief illustration of my point and I'll wrap this all up.
Some comedian I've never heard of told a shitty racist joke at the Madison Square Garden event. Even if you didn't watch the convention, you know the joke. A lazily constructed, poorly delivered joke about Puerto Rico being garbage. The left loved it. Not because of the joke itself, that was disgusting right? But because surely that would drive any sane person who heard it straight to the arms of Kamala herself.
Guys...
Really?
Listen I'm not defending the joke but jesus...
I grew up my whole life hearing jokes about New Jersey being garbage.
Everyone knows that the entirety of West Virginia is nothing but hillbilly cousin fuckers.
Utah, is not but quaker dressing polygamists marrying children in order to make more children...
We all hear these jokes all the time.
It's okay though because those jokes are about white folks.
It's only unfunny when it's not white folks.
Right?
Trump even won the popular vote this time.
Maybe it's time we realize a joke is just a joke. No matter how racist or hurtful it may be, it's not a fucking nuclear bomb that's all of a sudden going to change the minds of the masses.
There are literally millions of people who heard that joke, who probably even hated that joke, and still voted for Trump.
If the left is ever going to want to win again, they're going to have to do the dirty work. They are going to have to climb down from the top of virtue mountain and meet the other side halfway. I'm not saying sink all the way down. I'm not advocating become Trump to beat Trump. I'm saying there are a LOT of normal everyday people out there....who are certainly NOT Nazis, who don't necessarily see the world through the same lens.
I get that we want to be the good guys. But if we EVER want to win again, we're going to have to stop telling the other side that they're the bad guys.
I get it.
I really do.
Fear is easy.
Anger is easy.
Righteous anger is a fucking drug, and really really easy.
We're going to have to work through those feelings. It will hurt. It won't be easy. That's why it's called work, but maybe, if we want to dip into even some small percentage of the nations largest voting block, we need Straight White Male.
Maybe it's time to stop villainizing that guy.
Maybe...just maybe...it's time to reach into that bag of empathy and compassion we keep advertizing, and extend it.
If we want them in our space, we need to make space.
Or not.
We could also just keep making our space smaller.
It's just
we may be realizing way too late...
Not safer after all.
