Thread by @JoshuaCypess

All meaning comes from context; it's the first rule of semiotics

So, when a symbol is affixed to a salient context, that symbol's meaning will change

e.g if the police = the nice boys on Law & Order then = good guys

But if PD = DJT's goons & Chauvin, the connotation changes

2/ One plus of the crudeness of the Trump (ym'sh) era is how the mask has fallen from the GOP.

Yes, we've been saying it for decades, but since DJT is cruel & stupid, his tactics are overt. Barr, Cheney were calm & polite, but DJT *can't* be

And that's why his cult loves him!

3/ For the ignorant, for the Literalist, the truth needs to be overt to be understood. They think racism is only the n-word or abuse is only Harvey W. So until DJT, the GOP has coasted by, hiding their victims

Compare how Barr quashed Mueller but then DJT blurts out his crimes

4/ Ignorance is part of the human condition; but willfully remaining ignorant, esp. by shunning new information (b/c it shocks your ideology, or makes you have a sad) is a sin

We can hold someone accountable for *refusing* to learn. For killing the messenger instead of listening

5/ DJT's boundary busting thus has 2 big effects:

(1) it allows the crude & stupid to think they're safe to be ugly (one reason why the cops are overtly brutal even on camera)

(2) It forces people into moral choices as overt as in any philosophy class

6/ Trump (ym'sh) has forced us to revoke Godwin's Law: we're actually in a time of N*zis!

While many of today's real n*zis stay subtle, more & more are overt b/c of the above dynamic: either they lusted for it so long now they let loose, or they feel it's "necessary" to choose

7/ My fellow tribe members who still support Trump (ym'sh) are pathetic mamrim.

As Literalists, most will deny the facts & say that overt N*zi symbols & acts aren't "proof." Too often they stay loyal to the golden calf from (unconscious?) racism and/or having ugly, hateful souls

8/ Halakha states a person cannot be held responsible for 'oness', i.e. being forced to act w/o free will. This works for basic ignorance. But it doesn't apply here.

Why? Because these same people invoke conspiracy theories about their enemies! They know how to seek out answers!

9/ Justice means equal application of action; and if they know that all of their enemies have secret conspiracies to hurt them, but then they don't apply that same "sleuthing" to other people in power, they're showing their real intentions & loyalties. A golden calf

10/ Early in the #TrumpCrisis, I asked them how they could support Bannon, & later how to reconcile kids in cages. They would say those facts didn't exist

That's dereliction of duty.

But all too typical for those who judge 'knowledge' only by whether it makes them feel good

11/ That's the key: for very bad thinkers, facts are only about fitting ideology & often that just means selfishness & supporting a fragile & rotten ego

The key to virtue is HUMILITY which requires having a stark, brutal dedication to knowing the truth abt. yourself & the world

12/ One cannot be humble w/o truth. Humility doesn't mean self-destruction b/c that isn't a true result. Every person is important, every life is sacred and worth the entire world.

Truth, the sign of Moses, is the source of his quintessential humility

13/ Valuing all life equally plus knowing yourself & knowing the world are the necessary steps to being a good person.

If done correctly, the process will make you (ironically) less self-absorbed & more self-less

Blind hate is a sin, yes, but it's also untruthful.