When you have no real platform to run on, you just blame the world's woes on an outgroup. No woes? Then invent some!
A reader sends me this link to a Tweet (why can't things just be URLs anymore? Fuck Tick-Tocks, Tweets, Facebook postings, Instagrams, YouTube silent "videos" of photos, or Livestreams or whatever!) from "Alpha News" (red pill?) which advertises itself as providing news "the mainstream media" won't cover. You know where this is going.
Anyway, it appears to be a video of George Santos (yes, had to go there) doing very, very bad drag (pack it up and go home, sweetheart!) advocating for "safe spaces" in Minnesota for "trans children."
The only thing worse than the video were the vile comments accompanying it. There is a lot of hate in the world, and it is easy to hate on this - an ugly supposed trans person advocating for children to be "trans."
It is easy to project this onto an entire country. Surely all trans people advocate that children should have sex-changes, right? And every trans person thinks it should be a capital offense to be called by the wrong pronoun or be "dead-named" - right? Because everyone thinks and acts in lock-step with one another. And "those people" all think this way.
As I noted before, when I was President of the Gay and Lesbian Student Association, we had a "hotline" that tried to talk students out of killing themselves because they were gay. We referred them to the suicide prevention hotline, of course. But it was - and is - a real issue that a lot of young people become despondent because they think their parents will disown them (and sometimes they are right!) or they are victims of bullying. When you live in a society (particularly back then) where you are told that you are the worst thing imaginable - worse than a Communist!) and worthy only of death, well, you have to have a very strong constitution to be able to say, "Well, fuck you, the world is wrong and I'm right!" It's either Liberace or go home.
But we would get phone calls from young people in high school sometimes, and we had to handle this carefully. We didn't want to be seen as promoting homosexuality as a lifestyle - much as the media does today. Today we are a marketing demographic - a rich vein of vanity spending to be tapped. So yes, the marketers promote this as a "lifestyle" - and if that bothers you (it should) don't blame the gay activists, but the marketing department at Coors Beer, Stellanis-Jeep, Levis Jeans, and a host of other brand-names which have been pushing gayness as a means of making money. I kid you not on this.
But getting back to the "Gayphone" we did have high school age kids calling (and not just the prank calls) and it was difficult to handle such calls. By the way, we had one group of "prank" callers call from a fraternity once, and I talked to the prankster and said, "I understand what you are going through, call back when your friends are not around." And he did, too. He was using the "prank" as a means of camouflage - thinking his obsession with gayness would somehow keep his friends from suspecting, when in fact, it just made it more obvious.
Another time, a high school student called, nervous and almost in tears. I told him - and I still think it is good advice - that he was young and underage and shouldn't worry about these sort of things. There was no need to "come out" in high school, particularly since back then (1985) he would be bullied, mocked, and likely even assaulted. There would be plenty of time when he was an adult (only a couple of years away) to deal with these issues, so why rush things?
With college-age students, we often recommended staying "in the closet" until graduation, at least where parents were concerned, if there was a concern the parents would disown their own children. This is the part that conservative Christians don't like to talk about. They disown their children - often underage - and throw them out on the streets with nothing. Teenagers out on their own, often having to resort to survival sex to live. If they weren't gay before.... And guess who the number one customers are for that sort of thing? Yea, conservative Christians.
But of course, I am painting with a wide brush. Not every conservative Christian views their children as possessions to be discarded the moment they don't live up to expectations, right? Just as not every trans person is advocating for "trans children safe spaces" or whatever. But that is how the game is played - you take the outlier of any political movement and then paint the entire group with a broad brush. Republicans are all Nazis, Democrats are all Communists - right? But of course, we know that the difference between a Nazi and a Communist is just in the window-dressing. Both are fascists.
And this ties into the blog posting I was writing before my reader sent me that link. You see, fascism relies on demonizing an outgroup as a scapegoat for the world's problems. Fascists never propose solutions to the world's problems - indeed, the "problems" of the world they talk about are often imagined or made up. Gubment is comin' for your gas stove! That sort of thing. The only "solution" they have is a final solution - if we "outlaw" the out-group and get rid of them entirely, either through deportation, imprisonment, or of course, just killing them off - then everything will be hunky-dory.
How making trans people "illegal" (whatever that means) will balance the budget, reduce the deficit, bring peace to the Ukraine, solve Brexit, reduce global warming, or solve any real problems facing our country or humanity in general, is not stated.
On the other hand, creating "safe spaces for trans children" doesn't solve these problems either, and moreover, isn't all that pressing an issue. The advice we gave back in 1985 I think is still valid today - you have the rest of your life to figure this out, so why make this an issue when you are in high school? Moreover, like the whole LGBTQ thing, it is being sold like soap flakes in the media, and I am sure more than one impressionable young person will decide to be "trans" because it garners attention. Trans is the new Goth.
Some Republicans, however, aren't really interested in solving real problems. Global warming? Doesn't exist. School shootings? Never happened. But made-up problems? They've got an answer for that! The party that decries "cancel culture" wants to ban books in school! That will bring up the test scores, for sure!
It is has been said that modern "conservative" (and I put that in quotes) thought comprises inventing ridiculous scenarios and then getting really, really mad at them. Fox News goes ballistic, saying that "Demmy-crats are coming for your gas stove!" when in reality, some government agency is just pointing out what everyone should already know - that breathing combustion gases from a gas range isn't healthy. That's why you have a range hood and why they have labels on the stoves telling you to open a window. In our camper, if we run the gas stove, we have to open two windows, or the fumes will make you cough.
(I digress, but we had a "ventless" gas fireplace in our house in Virginia and even with a window open, it produced a lot of fumes. And with a window open, it didn't do much to heat the house. Un-vented gas appliances are just a bad idea, based on my personal experience.)
But no one is proposing outlawing gas stoves - or "coming to take your stove away" - it is just made-up bullshit designed to get people upset and distract them from the fact that the staggering budget deficit was due to massive tax cuts for businesses and wealthy individuals over the years.
I used quotes around the word "conservative" as what is passing for conservative thought these days isn't traditional conservative values, but something far more vile - fascism. Fascism isn't a political philosophy, but really just the ambition of accumulating power for the sake of power. Fascists will appeal to the left-wing or right-wing, whatever it takes to get into power - and then turn on their supporters when it becomes convenient. National Socialism (Nazism) started out as a "worker's party" and promised to improve the lives of the average German. And initially, they concentrated on building "worker's resorts" (including the largest beach resort hotel in the world) and worker's cruise ships. Everyone would be able to afford a "People's Car" or a Volks-Wagen, so they could drive to the mountains and go on a Volks-March - perhaps into Poland.
It was the same with Trump and the blue-collar working-class. He would bring back all those high-paying union jobs in the steel mills and "make America great again!" It was an intoxicating appeal - and blue-collar laborers in the Midwest weren't getting any positive feedback from the Democrats (other than "basket of deplorables" and "flyover States"). Of course, Trump largely threw the working class under the bus, once he was elected. At least he didn't send them off to Stalingrad.
Hitler's promises also went by the wayside, of course. Few Volkswagen's were actually built before the war, and the war became the end-all of fascism. The "workers" were sent off to the front lines as cannon fodder, replaced by slave-labor that was worked to death. Meanwhile, the leaders enjoyed the wealth they stole from the Jews and other outgroups, until, of course, the entire thing came to a halt, only a few years later.
And despite books like "The Man in the High Castle" it is clear that Nazism would have collapsed, one way or another. It was not a sustainable system of government. It was just a drug-fueled power-grab. It was a death cult.
So why did people support it? The answer is, of course, they really didn't. You don't need a majority of people to support your cause in order to take over - you just need a sizable minority and to be able to divide the majority. In Germany, they divided the left, pitting centrists against Socialists against Communists. You see the same thing in America today - leftists talk about "centrists" with more disdain than they have for Trumpists.
And to get even a small minority to support them, fascists need scapegoats. They need an outgroup to vilify and demonize and to blame for all the world's problems, particularly the made-up ones. It is a common myth that Nazis took power because of the great depression. But in reality, they came to power as the depression was waning and economic conditions were actually improving. It was the scapegoating and divide-and-conquer that drove them to power.
For Nazis, the outgroups were the Jews, of course, but also Communists, Socialists, Gays, Gypsies, and anything seem as modern and "avant-garde" If only these bad actors could be taken to task, the world would be a better place! They were taking away your money and corrupting the youth of Germany! A crises is at hand! We must act now!
And a lot of people believed it. They believe it today. I've met people who are convinced the Federal Reserve "took all their money away" in some sort of George Soros, Illuminati, Rothschild, Masonic, New-World-Order conspiracy. If only Trump were President! They'd be rich! When I point out to them that in order for someone to take your money away, you must first have some, they get very quiet. The sort of people who follow fascism are not very smart people.
Of course, once in power, these supporters are shit upon badly. The National Socialists made a big noise about being in favor of unions, but once in power, the unions were tamed and became lapdogs for management. Even though they pushed an agenda of Aryan racial purity, a lot of out-groups tried to identify with them. There was, for a short time, even a Jewish Nazi group - before the Nazis banned it. But the Nazis made inroads in Mexico, which became a hotbed of espionage during the war. The SS even recruited divisions in Slavic and Arabic countries - races of peoples who would have been thrown under the bus, had the Nazis eventually prevailed.
People like to throw around the term "Nazi" a little too loosely - at least in the past. "Reagan was a Nazi!" some liberals would say, or "Bush [pick one] was a Nazi!" - but in reality, these were just traditional conservative Presidents whose political views were not liked by the Left.
Today, however, we see a pattern that is not "sort of like" the rise of Nazism in Germany, but exactly like it. Hitler had his cult of personality and his deranged speeches and his Beer Hall Putsch. Trump has the same - and his insurrection far surpassed Hitler's first attempt at seizing power. In terms of scapegoating, the same old targets are being assailed - Jews, Blacks, Gays, and Leftists, among others - as well as a host of new ones - Asians, Trans, Drag Queens, and even "Furries." These new "outgroups" are being blamed for the downfall of America, in what ways we are not even told. But whatever it is, it is far more important than 400,000 people losing power in Texas (and getting ridiculous utility bills).
The sad thing is, a lot of people believe it. Why? Convenient thinking. Weak thinking. Externalizing. My credit card debt is increasing! It can't be because I keep charging things on my credit card. No, it has to be those Transgender Jewish BIPOC Furries and their space lasers! They took my money away!
It is comfort food for the brain. Nothing bad that happens in your life is ever your fault. And it is a philosophy that is attractive to weak thinkers of all stripes. People on the Far-Left and Far-Right (who often are the same people) fall for this. "Bernie Bros" became Trumpers when their chosen idol wasn't given the nomination of the party he refused to join. It is akin to the trade unionists who supported Hitler, only to later discover he favored their employers - and sent their sons to die in Stalingrad.
Since the failure of the January 6th insurrection, it seems that the drumbeat of hate has slowly accelerated, month by month. First, it was the "trans" people, who were an easy target as (I believe) many were influenced by Russian Trolls to go online and "demand" special treatment (and treatments) as well as beatify poor examples of transgender folks, such as Chelsea (Bradly) Manning. Stories were planted in the press of children having sex changes or getting hormonal therapy (the former completely untrue, the latter largely exaggerated). They were an easy target, as the whole concept of sex-changes is sort of taboo (going back to the Ed Wood era) and titillating (bad pun) as well.
But that was the nose in the camel's tent - or something like that. Next up to bat (quite literally) were drag queens. Drag shows are not "sexual" at all - someone dresses up as a woman and lipsyncs songs and tells corny jokes. It has been done for centuries without any sort of drama involved. But again, the stories are planted that drag shows are somehow "sexual" and that children are routinely dragged (sorry) to such performances and forced to watch - which turns them into transgender kids, of course!
Again, I don't understand the point of "drag queen story hour" but reading books to children is not really a "drag show" nor it is sexual in nature. All I can say, is that it is a good thing those drag queens are not on television for 15 seasons or anything like that. 15 seasons - but this is a burning issue now.
It got worse. We were told that Drag Queens were "grooming" (sexually molesting) children, when there is zero evidence of this (but plenty of evidence of prominent Republicans doing just that!). It was a carefully calculated plot to incite rage in people - to incite violence against minority groups. You need to protect the children from pedophiles! Go out there and kill them!
And some folks have tried to do just that. As part of the "Qanon" cult, they have spread wacky conspiracy theories that Democrats are running a satanic pedophile cannibalistic cult out of a pizza shop. It sounds so stupid you have to wonder who would believe such a thing. But some guy did - and drove to Washington DC from North Carolina and started shooting up the place, looking for a non-existent "basement" where children were supposedly being held hostage.
But hey, that couldn't happen to rational, thinking people, right?
Wrong.
The Qanon cult gives away the Republican's end-game - to paint anyone who disagrees with them as being part of a pedophile cannibalistic Satan-worshiping cult. Qanon was just a decade ahead of its time, is all. It is where the mainstream GOP will be in a few years - many are already there, including a Congresswoman from Northwest Georgia.
But speaking of propaganda, I routinely have to interject when Mr. See is watching some wacky YouTube channel, where someone goes off on a holistic healing method. We have friends who follow homeopathic medicine channels, or at least will listen to them. "You know, maybe modern medicine doesn't have all the answers!" they say, thinking it makes them seem smarter than some idiot who went to medical school. We all want to be smart, it seems, even by being dumb.
It is like folks you meet who say while they don't believe in UFOs, they nevertheless say, "Well you know, the universe is a big place and anything is possible, maybe even Bigfoot!" It is a way of waffling and keeping a foot in both camps. But it is also a good way to slip on a banana peel and hit your head on the edge of the sink. You'll wake up in a different world.
That is the real difference between the world today and that of 1936. Hitler had this newfangled thing called "Radio" and a "Ministry of Propaganda" - in an era where "Propaganda" wasn't considered a dirty word. It was just a way of teaching people the correct way to think! Today we have social media - which can be diverted and influenced by actors across the globe. All it takes is a small army of trolls to place a comment or make a suggestion.
And it isn't like they ham-handedly say, "Trump great! Biden Bad!" but rather more nuanced techniques. They go on a site frequented by Lefists and get them to hate Centrists more than Rightests. "Well, at least with a Righest, you know where you stand!" they say (what does that even mean?), "But you can't trust a Centrist - they'll turn on you!" That makes no sense whatsoever. Divide and conquer, the oldest game in the book.
Similarly, the "divide and conquer" method pits "Millennial" against "Boomers" who are both pitted against "Gen Z" or whatever other nonsense label you want to slap on people based on their age. Because, as we all know, members of the Young Republicans have more in common with Antifa simply because they are in the same age group! Ditto for elderly Unitarians and Fundamentalist Baptists - same age group, they must have the same social values. Hey, they both go to church, right?
So, what's the point of all this? Only that we are being manipulated, constantly, on a grand scale, by a variety of actors. This whole "trans" thing is a case in point. People are falling for this group-think on both sides, seething with hatred for trans people and even drag queens (who's next?) or stupidly taking the opposite side and blindly following this "pronoun" nonsense. Since when do "civil rights" encompass the right to tell people what to call you or how to think? But again, I think a lot of the "trans rights" people are being trolled by the Russian Internet Research Agency.
Sadly, too, it seems that many of the poster-children for "trans rights" end up being a little.... off. Manning, for example, has exhibited bizarre behavior and seems to be little more than an attention-seeker, doing anything for publicity - even going so far as to hang out with white supremacists (wtf?). And no, I don't buy - for one single second - the idea that sex-change surgery is "life-saving" because people will kill themselves if they don't get it. That's just hostage-taking. Sorry, but if all you want to be is left the hell alone, I agree with you. But I think both the Left and Right are being trolled today - by outside influencers - to hate one another with a passion.
Who, in the end, does that benefit? Not anyone in the US, that's for sure!
