

Discover more from thepete’s pov

I find it so sad for humanity that we are two decades into the 21st century and there are still waaaay too many Americans who don't understand basic biology and, even worse, basic human rights.
While the Founding Fathers definitely didn't want women or poor people to vote (not to mention black people, whom they didn't even want to be free), with time and science, We The People have learned that poor people, women, and even people of color are, in fact actual people, and therefore should be guaranteed the same equal rights and treatment as white men get.
And yet...
Even today, we have a political movement in Washington DC that is trying to rob women of their control over their own bodies (a move that could rob gay and trans people of their rights, as well) and a conspiracy of right-wingers in government, in the media, and elsewhere, who want to turn fearful white people against their fellow citizens in such a way that drives them to murder them (as we saw in Buffalo just days ago).
To a truly thinking person, it seems obvious what is going on. Republicans in government, the media, and on the Internet, are trying desperately to keep their jobs by keeping their supporters fearful.
The equation is simple:
Make your followers panic about a mythical problem + explain that you're protecting them from it = reelection guaranteed for as long as you can keep them buying your bullshit lies.
Don't worry--the Democrats do this, too. Though, their big bad is a bit less mythical because they just point at the Republicans and say "we're fighting against them." Then, everyone left of center bites hard on that hook and votes for the D every time and for many of us, that hook hurts! Especially when we think about how little the D has done for us lately (climate change, pollution, police reform, etc).
The sad thing is that those right of center are living in absolute fear for their very way of life! EVEN THOUGH their way of life is not actually in danger--at least not in the way they have been told.
The Unflacid Truth
Abortion is NOT actually murder anymore than masturbation or deciding to not have kids is.
Abortion also doesn't bother God, because, well, God doesn't exist. An all-powerful being is something time and science haven't been able to prove and really, that's OK. Life is more simple without trying to live up to rules that often make no sense in a modern world and largely fail to take human biological and cultural evolution into consideration. It's ok--we can be moral without a god if we just try.
But Republican logic should be enough to make most of this anti-women, anti-LGBTQ+, and anti-people-of-color stuff go away regardless of how religious, racist or sexist you are.
A basic part of Republicanism is the idea that government needs to keep out of our personal lives. So, that means, government shouldn't pass any laws governing what marriage is, what people (married or not) do with themselves, nor what women do with their bodies. So, drugs are legal, being hetero, gay, gender fluid, or trans is legal, just like being black, mixed, or any color, is legal, too. Sounds like a pretty free way to live your life right? Want to have sex with that person you think is hot or maybe that breakfast pastry? As long as the hot person consents and you pay for that pastry, you do you! (Yes, masturbation is legal, too!)
UNDER REPUBLICAN LOGIC, YOU CAN DO WHAT YOU WANT UNLESS THOSE ACTIONS INFRINGE OR ROB OTHERS OF THEIR RIGHTS.
This is a basic, moral logic thing.
A pregnant woman decides she doesn't want to carry a baby to term, obviously OK.
A pregnant woman is forced to carry a baby to term regardless of her own wishes, obviously, not OK.
If a spouse gets drunk and beats up their spouse, obviously, not OK.
If both spouses are men (and one is a person of color), get high on pot, but refrain from beating each other up, obviously OK.
RIGHT?
All of these choices are none of the government's business until a person's right's are infringed. (You can argue that an embryo/fetus/etc are persons all you like, that's not what science says.)
You might think this means refusing to wear a mask or refusing to get a shot during a pandemic is legal--my body, my choice, right?
WRONG.
Not wearing a mask and not getting vaccinated puts other people's lives at risk, potentially infringing or robbing people of their lives and therefore their rights.
Doesn't this way seem more simple? It's not about what God thinks, or whether someone is better or worse than anyone else. According to Republican Logic EVERYBODY GETS THESE RIGHTS. Nobody goes to hell, or jail, and nobody gets killed because we all agree, we all get the same rights.
But what about actual Republican "logic?"
I strongly believe that if Republican politicians and Republican voters would just be the conservatives they claim to be, most of the problems with race and gender would go away.
BUT THEPETE, ARE YOU SAYING RACISM AND SEXISM CAN BE SOLVED?
Of course not! Whether it's skin color, possession of a penis, or some other damn thing, we'll always have assholes who think up arbitrary ways to "determine" how they are "better" than other people.
But if people just stopped being utterly hypocritical about who they are, we'd all be saving so much money, time, effort, sweat, blood, and tears!
If EVERYONE on Earth could just shut the fuck up about how other people are doing it wrong, and STOP claiming that they themselves are doing it right, and just admit we're all making this shit up as we go, we might one day see world peace.
MAYBE!
Hey, thanks for reading if you have been! If not, why'd you skip all the way down here? You missed all the good stuff! Go back and read it!!
