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Here in the US, we are constantly being encouraged to pick a side. Politically and socially, if you're not with us you're with them, against us. Who we vote for puts us in a certain category in the minds of others. So do our opinions about international events and our framing of societal issues.
Our perspectives assign us enemies even when we don't want to be enemies with anyone. Our perspectives also assign us allies that we may not want to be associated with. There's very little space for nuance. Especially since many have been reduced to speaking in code on social media to avoid being silenced by censors.
In a cultural sense, we're encouraged to downplay the importance of how we see the world, and to focus instead on our physical identities and party affiliations. In a million tiny ways, these identities and affiliations group people into factions engaged in a perpetual and carefully controlled conflict. This endless argument that never goes anywhere dominates the headlines, year after year.
We all get sucked into the endless argument at some point. Many spend their whole lives swept up in it. This is useful to the control regime. It distracts people from the holes in the official story. Gun control. Abortion. Reparations. Getting tough on crime. Scripted rhetoric on these and other issues makes it seem like there are worthy causes being championed. Yet gathered around these causes are nests of special interests. In the rare instances where meaningful change does occur, it happens in a way that benefits these special interests.
I'm not sure what side of the endless argument I'm on. I favor freedom, and consider any government's legitimacy to be primarily determined by how well it protects our natural right to be free. I also believe strong families and communities are the foundation of a healthy society. These things would seem to place me deep in the political right.
At the same time, I believe that anthropogenic climate change is underway, and that the carbon scam muddies these waters. I favor forcing polluters to stop poisoning our environment and food supply. I say yes to legal abortions and can see a place for reparations at a state level. On the question of law and order, calls for reimagining policing resonate with me, though I've yet to see a practical plan for doing this in a way that doesn't compromise public safety. At first glance, opinions like these make me seem like a lefty.
More controversially, I think the entire COVID debacle was a massive scam, carried out by varietal interests in business and government, to reduce our financial power and make us all less free. I think our meddling in Ukraine is unwarranted and our involvement in Israel's war means we're providing material support for ethnic cleansing in Gaza. And I think the whole banking and finance sector should be replaced by a better system that we have direct participatory control over.
Where that locates me I'm not sure, but it leaves me feeling disconnected from the endless argument. Disconnected and a little afraid. Where a person stands in this argument can attract swarms of haters overnight. Knowing this, how many people simply refrain from sharing their opinions these days?
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