PSA From Me To Conservatives

Since moving my blog to this substack it feels a bit weird to keep using it as personal blog. But oh well. I thought it would be important for future me to see where my mind was at this point in time.

Public Service Announcement specifically for my conservative friends and family~

If you feel like I've been meaner lately... less patient, more strident, etc. I recognize that fact. I don't like this fact, but I'm not apologizing for it. Since I first had the power to articulate a vision for what I'd like to accomplish in the world, it has always been to make the world more loving. (To the extent that I've changed my cultural, religious and political views, it has been with that single goal in mind.) I'm not happy that my current mood and communication aesthetic doesn't seem to match that goal, at least on a surface level. You can probably guess what's driving this mood and aesthetic, but in case you can't, I want to clarify so that you have the context in case it would be helpful for you in interpreting me, my intentions, or where our relationship stands.

My household is in a lot of pain and fear right now. Beyond my household, I have innumerable friends and loved ones who are in pain and fear right now. Regardless of your view about how grounded the reasons for the pain and fear are, it should be understandable that those in this condition will not be their "best selves".

But I want to challenge that idea. If your idea of a "best self" is someone who is always polite, cheery, doesn't rock the boat, respects everyone's views, and makes you feel fine about disagreements... I disagree with that definition. In fact, I think that kind of "best self" is not genuine, open, or -in my estimation- actually Loving. Though many kinds of love can be maintained in that "best self" scenario. I think that for actual love to grow and thrive, authenticity needs to be in the mix. And I am authentically angry at you right now.

Again: I am incredibly, fully and intensely aware that you think I and my worried loved ones are being irrational. We are immature, we don't understand the way the world works, we're in an echo chamber, hell, maybe the devil himself got us all worked up with the woke mind virus. I get that, and I'm absolutely >not< inviting you to explain your theory to me.

What I'm asking you to understand is that from our perspective you've unleashed hell and the antichrist on us. You're ideology led to an archon of hate, surrounded by an empire of greed to gut every protection and scant safety net we thought we had. Especially my disabled, Native American, Hispanic and LGBTQ+ loved ones, those I would describe as "the least of these" according to scripture. YOU did that. YOU chose that. I know you think you did it for "the greater good". I know you think democrats actually literally want to end democracy and make death camps for Christians. So you feel you had no choice.

But I think your ideology is a huge shitty lie. Just like you think mine is. But YOURS happens to be in power now, threatening so much. I don’t know how much of the evil you’ve enabled will actually be unleashed. I hope all our fears are as unfounded as you believe. I hope you’re right that us woke-scolds are wrong about the unique threat you’ve ushered into power. I hope you’re right that we’ve worked ourselves into a tizzy over just another run-of-the-mill Republican win. But I think that if you actually think that, you are incredibly blinded by your ideology.

So... I am mad at you. Expect to receive less patience from me as a result. More authenticity. For those of you I love, know that I still love you, but right now I honestly don't LIKE most of you. I think you've done a shameful thing and ought to be ashamed.

You can feel free to copy/paste this and return it to me if at some point in the future we vote in AOC and the evil communist dictator for life creates healthcare for all, housing and treatment for all the unhoused, and taxes the billionaires instead of holding an ass-kissing competition like we see now. Rub this in my face when the person I vote for is threatening to put Christians in camps, wants to genocide the straight whites, and outlaws the Bible or whatever your persecution-complex brain has concocted for you. At that time, I will be understanding, realizing that your fear and pain is causing you to express different sides of you that aren’t normally exposed and raw, as mine are now.

Like me less. Dislike me. Hate me. That's fine. But don't bother trying to tone-police me. I'm letting you know how I actually feel and where we actually stand in relation to each other. I do not plan to start name-calling, but I will continue to insult ideas I find worthy of it. Ideas I think actively harm the goal of making the world a more loving place. I will use language that accurately depicts the pain and fear you caused. If our current relationship can’t withstand that, that’s ok. In the immortal words of that one stormtrooper: "Move along... Move along."