“Owning the libs” often seems to be the only defining feature of the artist formerly known as conservatism. On its face, this should be weird: Why should so many people be so invested in what they imagine will make strangers mad? Strangers who mostly will never know or care?
https://twitter.com/JonahDispatch/status/1387016551312805888
It seems like a sort of fantasy version of acting out for attention. “I feel small and unimportant. But in my imagination, urban grad students are enraged that I eat meat and endanger my loved ones. When I imagine them mad, I imagine they care what I do, therefore I matter.”
Call this exhibit A. Nobody knows this oaf is unvaccinated when he walks into Target. Nobody is “shaking.” But imagining them shaking lets him imagine he’s significant. It’s all a little heart on the sleeve though, isn’t it?
https://twitter.com/uglysquirl/status/1387043767438381060
I should note this tracks the sort of thing I’ve gotten from grumpy MAGA types in response to a piece I wrote about vaccine certificates. People I have never met & will never meet are very invested in fantasizing about me cross-eyed & livid with rage over their medical choices.
All I can think is: How starved for love do you have to be that you’ve got to resort to fantasizing about a stranger’s rage just to be able to feel like you matter to somebody?
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