Thread by @DanielleMuscato

A major difference bt conservatives & the rest of us is that conservatives, for some reason, prioritize hypothetical violence above actual violence.

E.g. A woman MIGHT be assaulted in a bathroom > forcing #trans ppl to use the wrong bathroom actually IS dangerous for trans ppl

Militarized police are justified and necessary, because cops MIGHT get hurt during an occasionally dangerous job they agreed & are paid to do > people of color actually, currently being killed by cops

A not-yet-baby MIGHT experience SOME primal form of pain for a moment > Rates of death during childbirth are higher when women don't have access to legal abortion

We need a show of military force! More spending! A military parade! A #SpaceForce! > Russia is currently engaging in ongoing cyber war with the US

WHY do conservatives argue, vote, fund, spread the word etc in favor of addressing hypothetical dangers instead of actual ones?

Is it bc they can't understand statistics? Is it living in a bubble? Lack of empathy for PoC & women & #trans people? A desire to punish nonconformity?

I could speculate, but the truth is I don't know the answer, or even for sure if this observation is accurate.

I'm hesitant to just label it "ignorance." There are some smart+conservative people out there! I do think it's possible that they're "just" racist, misogynistic, etc.

I think it really has to do with money. The super-rich want low taxes and military contracts, and the way they get that is by bribing corrupt politicians with "campaign donations"/lobbying. But those policies go against the interests of working people, and their votes are needed.

So, how do they get their tax cuts & military spending bills & private prison bills & insurance co bills passed?

They fan the flames of systemic racism & Christian nationalism, partnering with racist church leaders, & GOP politicians. They want to keep us divided.

They know that if we're fighting on these issues—abortion access, Black & #LGBTQ civil rights, etc—we're NOT eating the rich.

There are 2 books I recommend on this:

@KevinMKruse's "One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America"

amazon.com/dp/B00PWX7R56/…

and Heather Cox Richardson @HC_Richardson's "To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party"

amazon.com/Make-Men-Free-…

I'm not saying the systemic racism wasn't already there, & the systemic homophobia/transphobia, & misogyny, too. Very much so. The super-rich are able to exploit those traits in people bc they were & are already so prevalent. And the super-rich themselves are often bigoted, too.

That they fund conservative politicians' campaigns, and nonprofits, and churches, and think tanks, and other crap that actively harms marginalized people, proves that they are.

But I'm saying that, the way to deal with it, is to understand that we actually have a common enemy.

A very small number of very rich people make a LOT of decisions about what happens in the big picture. They will fight violently to protect their position at the top of this hierarchy. They don't care if millions of poor ppl suffer in the process—they are capable of looking away.

MOST Americans support #MedicareForAll. MOST Americans support legal #cannabis. MOST Americans support legal #abortion. MOST Americans support much stricter #gun policy. I could go on.

The reason these things are "controversial" is that the GOP orchestrates them to appear so.

So what can we DO about it?

We can & should fight racism at every level, from mass incarceration, mandatory sentencing etc, down to calling out racist jokes. We must protect Roe v Wade. But I think we also need to focus more on corruption. See, this is so much bigger than Trump.

To take down the whole system—for-profit prisons, for-profit insurance companies, student loans, abortion bans that most people don't want, cannabis bans nobody wants, military spending nobody wants—we need to make a billionaire's vote worth the same as anyone else's vote.

America is a constitutional republic. A lot of people mistakenly think we live in a democracy, because we vote for our reps, but we don't (setting aside ballot initiatives). We elect public officials, but it's important to keep something in mind about that, because THEY sure do:

Elected officials DO NOT represent our interests once in office. I'm gonna say it again to make sure I'm being clear: Elected officials DO NOT represent voters' interests once they are in office. They represent the interests of their major donors, whoever & whatever they are.

So, what do we do about it? They're obviously not gonna pass anti-corruption laws on their own.

Remember the ballot initiatives I mentioned? It's a way voters can pass new laws DIRECTLY—bypassing politicians—& anti-corruption acts tend to have stunningly high bipartisan support.

There is an org that is also working to put anti-corruption acts into law through ballot initiatives, instead of relying on politicians to introduce & vote for them on our behalf. It's already working & they've succeeded in several jurisdictions. Check them out! @RepresentDotUs

I'm a full-time civil rights activist & public speaker. If you enjoyed or learned from this thread, please make a $1 (or more) monthly pledge on my Patreon—it's how I survive doing this work! I'd also LOVE to come speak for your uni or local group. Thanks! patreon.com/daniellemuscato