Thread by @AlexandraErin

Here is the thing about the "Oh so you would have been in favor of universal healthcare but somebody was mean online so now you'll vote for a billionaire" thing.

I don't *just* want universal healthcare.

I want a functioning society.

I want the one because I want the other.

In a functioning society, people don't get death threats because they disagree with the comportment of the hosts of Boffo Flop Sweat.

The Dirtbag Left, as far as I can tell, aren't that interested in a functioning society. They'd prefer that it keeps working for them and they're also in favor of universal healthcare, but if a functioning society means they have to give up hunting feminists for sport they're out

If it means they can't leverage privilege to silence critics, they're out. If it means they have to put care and craft into their "comedy" lest their stray barbs inflict harm they did not intend, they're out.

I'm *not* going to stop wanting universal healthcare because of the Dirtbag Left, but I'm not going to work with people whose other interests are against my own, and I am going to question the efficacy of their "work" that is counter to the foundation of a functioning society.

If your desire for universal healthcare seems to be founded on a combination of political buzzwords and team sports... sure, okay, I'm not going to refuse your help for The Cause.

But I'm not going to ignore the harm you do "because we're on the same team." We're not.

Lot of these "revolutionaries" don't want revolution because they're interested in the long-term results, they want revolution because they want an excuse to act out the Purge. Or they want to *want* revolution because that lets them act out the social media version of the Purge.

"This is worth it, if it leads to revolution," he said, photoshopping a feminist critic of his favorite podcast's head into a stolen porn still. "I'm doing it for the universal healthcare," he says, carefully selecting which combination of racist and misogynist slurs to use.

Not my coinage, but yeah. I honestly believe a lot of their celebrity leaders are right-wing reactionaries at heart but there was more of a vacuum for right-wing grifter tactics on the left, go figure.

https://twitter.com/daijumao/status/1234161549520121856

Like, if they'd gone with LARPing an anti-communist insurgency, they'd be competing with big buck corporate-backed platforms and the likes of Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, etc.

But there's not the same complex on the left.

So they can be, "How do you do, my fellow comrades? Let us fight the system. And also, what's the deal with political correctness?" and the money pours in.

It's a smaller pie on the left than the right but they can get a bigger piece of it.

And to be clear, while I suspect this, that's not the root of my problem. If I thought their schtick was ultimately helpful I wouldn't care if they're sincere or not. And to the extent I believe they're harmful, I don't care if they're sincere or not. Doesn't change the outcome.

Anyway. I want universal healthcare as part of a functioning society. I'm not convinced the Dirtbag Left wants the same thing and if they do I don't think they've picked a terribly efficient or straightforward path of getting there.

It's easier to get people to cheer for politics as blood spot and permission to be racist than for "What if we had a society that takes care of everybody", but it's more useful to do the latter. The former takes us farther away from stuff like universal healthcare.

Because you know what the biggest obstacles to universal healthcare and other social programs are? They're popular! You ask people in the abstract and they're in favor of them. You know what bogs them down in specifics?

Things like politics as blood sport and racism.

The whole "Oh, if we solve economic inequality then race won't matter because we'll all be equal!" fails on multiple fronts but the biggest one is that "fear that Black people and immigrants will benefit" is what keeps perennially popular reforms from passing.

So no, I don't think a Leftism that is based around things like triumphalism, wreaking vengeance, and giving people permission to be bigoted is actually going to go anywhere that's worth going.

So to circle back around to the first tweet: it's not that I was for universal healthcare and then changed my mind because people were mean online.

Because I'm for universal healthcare, I'm not going to work with the dirtbags. I'd prefer to actually have it, not just be for it.

And the "we get it, you hate poor people" messages have started rolling in. That's just it: Zeppo Love Shack aren't poor people. The troll army's not poor people.

And poor people don't exist to excuse whatever hatred you perpetrate "because, uh... universal... health... care?"

Anyway. The revolutionary LARPers of Krypto Flap Jack aren't only not poor, they're actually rich. I'm not. Maybe if you give me enough money I'll understand how attacking actual poor people is the proper way to show love for the poor.

paypal.me/alexandraerin