This song came up this morning. My partner and I were talking about oldies upon waking up, as normal millennials do, and this song came up.
She thought it was by the David Matthews Band. I’m sure they did a cover, but the meaning is more powerful from the writer, Stephen Stills. Stills, like Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, were less of a jam band than they were anti-war activists with talent.
”It’s time we stop, hey, what’s that sound / Everybody look what’s going down / Paranoia strikes deep / Into your life it will creep / It starts when you’re always afraid / You step out of line, the man come and take you away /”
Transgender issues such as the right to body autonomy aren’t solely a trans matter. Especially as the United States is inflamed regarding recent abortion bans, it’s a subtopic on the issue of body autonomy. Similarly, we can talk about discrimination against many people barring them from housing, education, healthcare, and other much needed services, while talking about a lesbian black trans woman’s rights.
Here’s the really quick, and far too short, slideshow of Democratic Presidential candidates that responded to recent news regarding Muhlaysia Booker, one of the three black trans women who faced ultimate violence in the past week:
It is clear that fatal violence disproportionately affects transgender women of color, and that the intersections of racism, sexism, homophobia, biphobia and transphobia conspire to deprive them of necessities to live and thrive.
This epidemic of violence that disproportionately targets transgender people of color — particularly Black transgender women — must cease.
With seldom talk of white nationalism as it relates to Neo-Nazis, a fascist movement, and its relation to its namesake, the epitome of fascists, it can become easy for those that don’t identify as any of the above to still become indoctrinated in the authoritarian political philosophy. We jump in there.
Pokemon Feebas leads in the above image of the trans flag over-layed with the transgender symbol and “You can change.” overlaying that. Milotic, Feebas’s evolution, closes the image.
First, for journalists reading this:
Coverage of right-wing violence invariably addresses the outlets that aid young men in their radicalization, whether it is neo-Nazi news and discussion groups like Stormfront or simply message board chatter on 8chan, 4chan, Gab, and Reddit.
[YouTube’s] policies are not lax by accident, Vice’s Tess Owen pointed out at the event. “If they crack down on white nationalists, they’d have to crack down on Republican lawmakers, because white nationalists are talking like Republicans, and Republican lawmakers are talking like white nationalists,” she said. “We might hesitate to call a politician a racist because of the implications, and that’s a challenge for journalists as well.”
For more information on what sites are distinctly radicalizing, please read the above article by Columbia Journalism Review completely. Not only will you find those sites to avoid, but there’s also information regarding the propagators of these fascist ideologies. It’s an informative read, especially when read beside my own article discussing the spread of propaganda.
“… he didn’t necessarily agree with [the bigot] but found him “interesting and controversial.”
It’s a common occurrence on the internet, but the above quote came from a director of a journalism program that was found to be very supportive of anti-Semitic views. More than 70 years since the end of World War II, the period most commonly associated with fascism, this should be a red flag. In fact, these views, are almost literally a red flag “because white nationalists are talking like Republicans, and Republican lawmakers are talking like white nationalists,” according to reporters with the Columbia Journalism Review.
White supremacists, nationalists, separatists, the alt-right, Neo-Nazis, whatever you call them, fascists are out in force. Violent force.
Research widely publicized by the New York Times, suggests that not only are those promoting violence hanging out with each other in similar Internet circles, but they are also referencing each other. They’re making jokes and manifestos citing their jokes, their hate, and their past violence. These groups ultimately goad members along their version of the continuum of force, against each other and especially against those seen as the out-group.
By acting as gatekeepers, Internet trolls and those in the in-groups of the Internet not only falsely inflate an appearance of prestige and authority but reproduce the social ladder for which many seek refuge on the Internet from. This becomes most evident on platforms that offer ratings or reward systems such as Reactions on Facebook, or Upvotes on Reddit or Imgur. These tools would otherwise be useful to those feeling abandoned by their communities or wholly alone in a world full of varying opinions and fandoms. And perhaps that’s the poison.
Does everyone want a world of their own? That quintessential group of friends like some 90’s rerun? Perhaps, but it seems a lot more like Mean Girls.
“You can’t sit with us.”
Back to authoritarianism. That ultimate control has two faces: the meme group gatekeepers and Trump’s vicious anti-immigrant messaging and policies. Falling in line with either of these faces, in any way, defers some decision-making power to these fascists.
Everyone knows total power corrupts totally, right? Well, since when does an authoritarian, a fascist, cede any of that power? Never. Don’t give yours away either.
So while you’re seeking a sense of community online, there isn’t a replacement for the real thing. Unfortunately, the alt-right, for one example, also realizes this, and that’s how you end up with events such as the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia which left one progressive protester, Heather Heyer, dead. It’s one example of how memes and actual fascists were able to co-opt others into their mission of hate.
The Plastics
“The Plastics” in this context aren’t those that would actually commit murder and violence. Here, they are those that simply crib the “humor” and the rhetoric in order to feel at home. Those people that Trump calls his base.
The Plastics are people looking for a shelter for what they believe is their identity. This is populist nationalism when the identity is a broad stroking brush. According to American political scientist Francis Fukuyama, “[o]ther contemporary leaders who could be put in this [populist nationalism] category are Vladimir Putin of Russia, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey, Viktor Orbán of Hungary, Jaroslaw Kaczynski of Poland, and Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines.”
Basically, every world leader Trump has invited to the White House has been a fascist. They compliment his brand of populist nationalism, Trumpism, as an equal adjacent. Fukuyama, in his book, Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment, describes this brand succinctly “as patriots who seek to protect traditional national identity, an identity that is often explicitly connected to race, ethnicity, or religion.”
Blissfully unaware of the harm in their identity, the Plastics are lead down the dark path of Right-wing identity politics where violent extremism grows. All the while these views are harvested by racists and bigots in power, in the United States and around the world.
The Plastics become the free for soldiers and cudgel of oppressors. First menacingly, can then verbally, and then violently all the way to murder.
The worst part? The Plastics, for the most part, no not what they do. However, it’s a slippery slope if there ever was one.
While it may not be obvious how these views effect others, such as women and marginalized communities, ignorance isn’t always present. Sometimes it’s feigned.
Some, unfortunately, and as I’ve mentioned in a previous post, get their sick jollies from the thought that they have so much — authoritarian — control over another person’s life. Even if that control is only pushing someone to suicide. That is the ultimate danger in the bullying and threats from extremists besides the aforementioned mass shootings.
Dead End
The Plastics aren’t going anywhere. In fact, they won’t go anywhere at all. Even if they become President of the United States, that’s where the roller coaster ends for them.
If you’re distancing yourself from those “friends,” seeking guidance after being attacked by trolls, or just sick of the hate, here’s a pro tip:
Block them and move on. Reach out to your real-life community for support. And remember what I mentioned above, they aren’t going anywhere with their lives, and anyone willing to put the work into themselves will.
Empower yourself. They may be teachers, policemen, and doctors, but you’re valuable in whatever way you choose to be. Fascism’s days are numbered and you’re not alone.
Anyone can go from protecting their identity to pressing for a fascist movement. However, please learn more in this post regarding how to be more critical of the communities you’re already engaged in. Echo chambers are one thing, but the FOX News’s that throw fuel on these dumpster fires are not far from reach for any media network. A post about the history of fascism in America is forthcoming.
Important note:
If you’re still an asshole in the above ways, and don’t want to actively change that, you’re probably stupid. A fascist. Or both!
Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
The Ides of March moved me with the receding winds. As a blizzard of cold air came up to Denver, I took a bus, south to El Paso, Texas. I’ve told this story hundreds of times to hundreds of new friends and followers:
Earlier this month, I set out on foot from El Paso, TX. The goal was to document the length of the southwest border and through photography of the environment, region, and relevant images, raise money for humanitarian causes.
Today, on Facebook, I started a direct donation button to my personal page to this end. The button is for the Texas RioGrande Legal Aide (TRLA), which is helping represent migrants affected by what has become a humanitarian crisis, abuse, at the border.
On April 30th, it will be Mexico’s Children’s Day. This is a reminder for us to make a drastic change in our treatment of people at the border, and most importantly those children seeking asylum.
If you can’t directly support TRLA through the link in my Facebook page or are unable to do so here, please consider sharing my photography project.
I began the project on March 16th, and am calling it Open Borders. The photos are for sale at my eponymous gallery on 500px. All, 100%, of proceeds from any photo purchases made during the month of April will be donated to the following organizations:
3/29 Update: Halfway to San Diego, CA to photograph the Tijuana border. After that heading north for a short personal photowalk before heading back towards the Rio Grande border.
Here’s a sneak-peek into the gallery while you’re here:
Democrats were looking forward to a Blue Wave. Progressives were hoping for progressive candidates. Right-of-center? A redder political map.
Well, we can delve into that later on, but here’s what we got for the most part last night.
The Big Progressive Wins
First, a list. Next what we can expect policy-wise from the new Democratic U.S. House of Representatives.
Candidates outside the status quo:
Jared Polis (D-CO) – the country’s first openly gay Governor
Sharice Davids (D-KS) – the country’s first Native American, openly gay Congresswoman
Deb Haaland (D-NM) – the country’s second Native American Congresswoman
Ilhan Omar (D-MN) – the country’s first Somali-American, Muslim Congresswoman, a Somali refugee
Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) – the country’s second Muslim Congresswoman
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) – the country’s youngest Congresswoman, at 29 years old
Abby Finkenauer (D-IA) – the country’s second youngest Congresswoman, also 29
Young Kim (R-CA) – the countries first Korean-American Congresswoman
Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) – Massachusetts’ first black Congresswoman
Janet Mills (D-ME) – Maine’s first woman Governor
Letitia James (D-NY) – New York’s first black woman Attorney General
Progressive ballot measures that passed*:
San Francisco, CA – raised taxes on big corporations to fund homeless services
Florida – returns voting rights to over a million people that served time for felony charges
Louisiana – requiring felony convictions to have a unanimous jury conviction ruling
Massachusetts – an affirming transgender bathroom anti-discrimination protection
New Hampshire – affirms freedom from governmental intrusion in private or personal information
Missouri – legalizing medical marijuana.
Michigan –
confirming automatic & Election Day registration
confirming an independent redistricting commission
And last but pot least — had to. legalizes recreational marijuana. Making Michigan the tenth state to do so. The others? Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Colorado, Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts.
*Not a complete list
Although there were a lot of wins, there are some big losses to note before we move on. Before we touch on the bad though, let’s do a quick “good wrap.”
Kim Davis (R-KY), lost her election. She was the county clerk who refused to sign marriage licenses for same-sex couples. The Neo-Nazi GOP candidate renounced by his party lost to Illinois Democrats.
This is where the positives end here. In races across the country, Republicans made wins, losses for progressives. Electing racists wasn’t their only win on election night. In Alabama, voters stripped rights from pregnant people. They gave those full legal rights to fertilized eggs, instead. Republicans went so far as electing to Congress Steve King (R-IA), denounced by his party as a Nazi.
Moving forward, nonetheless.
What to Expect from the new Democratic U.S. House of Representatives
Eight (8) years since the last time Democrats controlled the House, there’s a new image for Congress. A woman’s image. Over 100 women**, are new and returning to the House of Representatives. About one quarter (1/4) of the 435 seats. These are the Policy Positions shared by those women listed above, as per Vote Smart:
Healthcare to cover pre-existing conditions and protecting the ACA
Pro-choice rights
To balance the budget, income taxes rising, particularly for the wealthy and top 1%
Campaign finance reform
Increasing federal spending to spur economic growth, not cutting corporate taxes
Ensuring education has proper federal standards
Government funding for renewable energy
The federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions
Gun control legislation
Pushing back against “The Wall.” Protecting immigrants and ensuring asylum and an easier path to citizenship
legalizing recreational marijuana use
**A similar look at the Top Priorities of these women at a later date.
***Rashida Tlaib offered the most to Vote Smart. She made very clear her political stances and postions.
**** Notable mention. Kate Brown (D-OR) – the countries first openly bisexual governor is re-elected in Oregon.
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