Dust wrote: ↑Sun Sep 27, 2020 6:42 pm
Today, free speech is something modern conservatives are pushing hard to protect, in part because conservative speakers were recently getting blocked from speaking in many venues, including at colleges. This is likely also because the modern conservative movement has taken a libertarian turn. (I remember a certain "far right" commentator giving a speech in full drag, to the cheering approval of a crowd of mostly younger Trump supporters, back in 2016, I believe...) Additionally there is the whole tech censorship debate going on right now, with conservatives arguing against large tech companies blocking content they disagree with, especially on social media and in internet search results.
I've noticed that too. I feel this is also illustrated in my flat out lack of harassment in my ultra conservative locale. It's not the ordinary "Joe Sixpack" conservatives I worry about, it's the puritan ones that get these kind of tyrannical laws passed quietly.
I also am concerned with the flat out Orwellian censorship taking place with tech giants and the general far left ideology. Indeed, it seems politics today can claim no winners, at least as far as common sense ideals to liberty are concerned.
It is possible that if the extreme left has its way, skirtcafe may be shut down over the fact that most here refuse the "trans" label, and that may be seen as bigoted. The extreme right may shut it down for obvious reasons. Both sides have demonstrated they are perfectly willing to put their hand over your mouth, it's just a matter of which hand? The left or the right?
It is this EXTREME tug of war that will eventually rip western culture, and the ideals of true liberty right down the middle.
I've often said there are more "liberals" in Trumps redneck base than there are in the far left. As for those same people claiming to be "conservative", I can't help but wonder what paradigm exactly are they clinging to? On the surface most rednecks in my region, while not crossdressing, DO engage in plenty of other "sins" that were flat out illegal not long ago... from gambling, to work on Sunday, to the night life, and yes, even a fair number of homosexuals. Lest we forget, it was the redneck lesbians that likely broke the ground of LGBT acceptance back in the day.
As for transgender acceptance... the mouth may lie... but server logs paint a different picture, and while transgender pornography may not rank the highest among southern states... there's still a fair share of downloading going on south of the Mason-Dixon line.
Even pornography itself is considered a major sin, yet look at the scantily clad people walking the streets... look at the flesh that we lust after in our pop-culture and advertising...
I've often wondered, is "Trump culture" actually more "liberal" by strict definition? Think about it... Note, I'm speaking of Trump
culture... not the man himself.
The fact is you have to be very careful what you say and write, lest you offend an extremist (left or right), and if you offend an extremist, it seems they will stop at nothing to ruin your life.
There is so much I want to say... but I have to retire first. My social opinions are enough to have me black balled everywhere.
FWIW, I've always felt reasonably safe out in a skirt in Appalachia, there have been a few places I have had my guard up though, that Walmart on the outskirts of Miami Florida comes to mind... 10pm and I just wanted some snacks. I admit the riff raff had my clutching my purse....
I've never worried about that in Appalachia.
I recall visiting Nashville late at night too and being a little uneasy in certain areas, such as getting gas an an inner city store. I noticed bullet proof glass around the cashier counter... another foreign observation for this old crossdressing country boy...
FWIW, 80% of my views are libertarian. I don't agree on everything, but they get the lions share. I part ways on health care, as I'm a FIRM advocate for single payer.