Thread by @JeffRoushPoetry

Both Republicans and Democrats claim to value “freedom.” But the word means something very different to each side. It’s reductive for Republicans, and collective for Democrats. (Thread)
#ResistanceUnited
#LiveBlue

To Republicans, any governmental involvement in life reduces freedom; it means people are counting on the government rather than solely their own merit. It’s a seductive continuation of American mythology: bootstraps and grit. That’s how they justify a might makes right approach.

It’s a zero-sum freedom: one person has the right, in this mindset, to take from others. No one has a “right” to a peaceful society, to fair wages, to healthcare, to go through a day without being shot. You’re free to get what you can—even if your position guarantees a “win.”

Democrats believe in lifting people to a level that gives them a chance. A baseline that would include healthcare, education, and removing the historical and present impacts of racism and sexism grants personal autonomy in the ways a Wild West worldview cannot.

In practice, a person who is sick or poor has less personal autonomy than one who is healthy or wealthy. A Donald Trump Jr. has advantages not because of any actual merit, but despite his lack thereof—because of where and to whom he was born.

I have certain sociological advantages simply because I am a white heterosexual cisgender male. I can exist comfortably in spaces where others have reason to be afraid; I start the race ahead of others. None of those advantages are the result of hard work or “deserving.”

I do work hard, and have had to overcome circumstances along the way. I can both feel good about my achievements and want more people to have the same opportunities. It’s not either/or.

In short (too late, I know), Republican “freedom” looks to cement the advantages some people have, and focus on a competition without acknowledging that it’s rigged. Democratic freedom is about providing something closer to a fair playing field for that competition.

Acknowledging these truths isn’t about fault. The democratic idea of freedom isn’t about assigning blame or denigrating hard work. Rather, it’s about accepting responsibility for how we move forward: not as a collection of individuals, but as a society.

Unless we are willing to lift our fellow humans, all we’re doing is running a rigged game, under rules set by those in position to accentuate their own pre-existing advantages. If we’re ever to be a nation of free people, we should want more than that.