Hi Ramona. I hope you’re well. A well written piece... and i hope you don’t mind me commenting. Feel free to ignore it, or if it is too much, mute/block away. It’s definitely not my intention to insult, offend or anything else.
But as i’m not from America, i have a different perspective on this particular part of your essay:
I know we all think we’re good and kind and an asset to, rather than a carbuncle on, society, but can we be good and kind and still work against about those people who aren’t? Those awful people who refuse to give a thought to anyone outside their own circles and have no desire to be anything but cruel to the rest?
Damn right we can.
Because the most dangerous, serial offender “people who are awful and refuse to give a thought to anyone outside their circles”’are the Elite circle and power structure of your country, not the deeply unhappy sad sacks screaming for attention like spoiled adolescents by saying admittedly horrific stuff. You do realise the chaos and destruction that power structure is sewing around the world, right, and has been for the last 70 years - i mean, ask anyone in Vietnam. Chile. Cuba. Afghanistan. Iraq. Libya. Syria. Lebanon. Yemen. Palestine. (To name a few)
From bombs to starvation sanctions, from funding right wing fundamental wahhabi nutcases (when convenient to them) who make Todd from arkansas and his vicious racism look like a character from the little mermaid.... Ask the countless souls in your own country hopelessly addicted to the FDA approved Opioids that this cabal of crooks and psychos just took some bribery money, sorry, lobbying money, to rush through.
And because some spotty teenager who has probably been on ADHD meds since he was 6 types some horrible words, you would like to hand the censorship keys to every online speech platform to them. Then that’ll be the end of it, alongside the “anti-guillotine” robodog cops being rolled out in NY..... because you (plural, not personal. Anyone making the similar argument) will have cheered on and created the consent for all that power and money to label what is inconvenient to that power and money as something that is wrong and worthy of censorship. In other words, killing dissent and voices of reason who want to speak out.?
I don’t think that’s your intention, you clearly want a better world. But what you are arguing for here will absolutely have the opposite effect. It is one of the indisputable observable facts of every horrific authoritarian society of the last 200 years that they had censorship powers and were not afraid to use them. Why do you think that is? And please don’t bring up that state/private thing. That line is so blurry it doesn’t exist. Look at how censorship is achieved in China - it is operated in large part by private entities, not the state.
We all need to be able to call this power structure out, and that means ensuring legal protections to do so, particularly for you American Citizens, who can do the most to help sort that monster out.
If you have read this far, thanks. If you think about it, many thanks. Be well and use your eloquence wisely.
Look at the figures. They are publicly available. Obama did the same with immigrant/refugee families, and so is Biden now. Obama started the drone programme that has literally blown thousands of innocent black and brown people to pieces. He started the invasion of Libya, which is now nothing but a daily fight for survival. If you are for protecting people, then it’s all of them that are being brutalized by that power structure, not just the ones that appear on CNN, NYT etc or what have you.
I hate trump too, he’s a malignant human, who exploited anger for personal gain and did nothing that he said he would. but they all do horrible things. Take abortion. Obama ran on signing rowe v wade into law. One of his major campaign promises. He had a two year clear majority to do it, but he waltzed in that door and kicked it down the path..... so how, materially, is that any different from what that orange goblin did? That’s my point. Please don’t think it’s because of some people chucking around insults. It’s because that whole structure, no matter who is in power, doesn’t give a flying fook about you, brown people, or anyone other than its own power.
And if you help get this signed into legislation then if de santis wins, who do you think he’ll censor and silence? And you will not be able to put it back in the bottle.
Stay well, i can’t go through this again. Do what you feel is right. I’ve read your message twice and got it all thanks. I just don’t find it to be rational or aware of a bigger global picture. And you can label my ideas right wing all you want - left/right means nothing to me. I’m for global solidarity, radically restructuring our whole system from government, resources, power, influence and wealth so that all 8 billion of us can survive, thrive and continue our journey through spacetime in peace. With no one hungry, abused, repressed or wholesale slaughtered, naturally. This will be our last interaction, i just wanted to try. :)
Hi Ramona. I hope you’re well. A well written piece... and i hope you don’t mind me commenting. Feel free to ignore it, or if it is too much, mute/block away. It’s definitely not my intention to insult, offend or anything else.
But as i’m not from America, i have a different perspective on this particular part of your essay:
I know we all think we’re good and kind and an asset to, rather than a carbuncle on, society, but can we be good and kind and still work against about those people who aren’t? Those awful people who refuse to give a thought to anyone outside their own circles and have no desire to be anything but cruel to the rest?
Damn right we can.
Because the most dangerous, serial offender “people who are awful and refuse to give a thought to anyone outside their circles”’are the Elite circle and power structure of your country, not the deeply unhappy sad sacks screaming for attention like spoiled adolescents by saying admittedly horrific stuff. You do realise the chaos and destruction that power structure is sewing around the world, right, and has been for the last 70 years - i mean, ask anyone in Vietnam. Chile. Cuba. Afghanistan. Iraq. Libya. Syria. Lebanon. Yemen. Palestine. (To name a few)
From bombs to starvation sanctions, from funding right wing fundamental wahhabi nutcases (when convenient to them) who make Todd from arkansas and his vicious racism look like a character from the little mermaid.... Ask the countless souls in your own country hopelessly addicted to the FDA approved Opioids that this cabal of crooks and psychos just took some bribery money, sorry, lobbying money, to rush through.
And because some spotty teenager who has probably been on ADHD meds since he was 6 types some horrible words, you would like to hand the censorship keys to every online speech platform to them. Then that’ll be the end of it, alongside the “anti-guillotine” robodog cops being rolled out in NY..... because you (plural, not personal. Anyone making the similar argument) will have cheered on and created the consent for all that power and money to label what is inconvenient to that power and money as something that is wrong and worthy of censorship. In other words, killing dissent and voices of reason who want to speak out.?
I don’t think that’s your intention, you clearly want a better world. But what you are arguing for here will absolutely have the opposite effect. It is one of the indisputable observable facts of every horrific authoritarian society of the last 200 years that they had censorship powers and were not afraid to use them. Why do you think that is? And please don’t bring up that state/private thing. That line is so blurry it doesn’t exist. Look at how censorship is achieved in China - it is operated in large part by private entities, not the state.
We all need to be able to call this power structure out, and that means ensuring legal protections to do so, particularly for you American Citizens, who can do the most to help sort that monster out.
If you have read this far, thanks. If you think about it, many thanks. Be well and use your eloquence wisely.
With respect and fellow human solidarity
Look at the figures. They are publicly available. Obama did the same with immigrant/refugee families, and so is Biden now. Obama started the drone programme that has literally blown thousands of innocent black and brown people to pieces. He started the invasion of Libya, which is now nothing but a daily fight for survival. If you are for protecting people, then it’s all of them that are being brutalized by that power structure, not just the ones that appear on CNN, NYT etc or what have you.
I hate trump too, he’s a malignant human, who exploited anger for personal gain and did nothing that he said he would. but they all do horrible things. Take abortion. Obama ran on signing rowe v wade into law. One of his major campaign promises. He had a two year clear majority to do it, but he waltzed in that door and kicked it down the path..... so how, materially, is that any different from what that orange goblin did? That’s my point. Please don’t think it’s because of some people chucking around insults. It’s because that whole structure, no matter who is in power, doesn’t give a flying fook about you, brown people, or anyone other than its own power.
And if you help get this signed into legislation then if de santis wins, who do you think he’ll censor and silence? And you will not be able to put it back in the bottle.
Stay well, i can’t go through this again. Do what you feel is right. I’ve read your message twice and got it all thanks. I just don’t find it to be rational or aware of a bigger global picture. And you can label my ideas right wing all you want - left/right means nothing to me. I’m for global solidarity, radically restructuring our whole system from government, resources, power, influence and wealth so that all 8 billion of us can survive, thrive and continue our journey through spacetime in peace. With no one hungry, abused, repressed or wholesale slaughtered, naturally. This will be our last interaction, i just wanted to try. :)
" I don’t have to tell you what they’ve done. You know who they are. " Why? Is it that obvious?