Hate Sells category archive
The Actual Cancel Culture 0
At the Des Moines Register, Shoshana Salowitz discusses the recent and escalating right-wing campaigns to ban books. A nugget:
They are about denying the humanity of Queer folks, Black folks, Brown folks.
Methinks she is onto something.
Aside:
Facing consequences for one’s own actions is not “cancel culture.”
It’s consequences. Consequences that one brings on oneself.
Decoding de Code 0
At The Seattle Times, Solomon D. Stevens decodes the code word, “woke.”
It is a culture war badge.
Follow the link for context.
Borderline Disorder 0
Jim Wright minces no words about the Republicans’ reaction to President Biden’s visit to Ukraine.
Thought Control 0
Read the article that David discusses.
Aside:
David’s distinction between Orwellian and Huxleyan dystopias provoked a thought or two.
Motivations for Meanness 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Bernard Golden explores seven factors which he posits contribute to group violence. Here’s part of what he says about one of them, characterized as “Relative Deprivation and Basic Needs”; follow a link for a discussion of the seven.
Obsession 0
David discusses the right-wing’s obsession with transgender persons (who, remember, are an almost infinitesimal portion of the population).
Aside:
The ugly truth is that right-wing pols really dsn’t care about transgender persons one way or the other.
What they care about is using hate to get votes, because hate sells.
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All That Was Old Is New Again 0
At the Kansas City Star, Dion Lefler sees echoes–well, heck, more than echoes–of Joe McCarthy’s Red Scare in the tactics Republicans are deploying to stoke fears the American students might (gasp!) be taught America’s history. Here’s how he starts his article:
The best answer to that question is another question: Why are we allowing it in Kansas, in 2023?
Follow the link for his reasoning.
“What They Don’t Know Can’t Hurt Me” 0
Michael in Norfolk looks at Florida Man’s war against history. A snippet:
Ignorance Is Not Only Bliss . . . 0
, , , it’s also Florida Man’s educational you-will-pardon-the-term strategy.
Cooking with Gas 0
Rebecca Watson looks at the right-wing’s panic attack over the revelation that, where there’s fire, there’s smoke.
Transcript here.
The Privatization Scam 0
At the Des Moines Register, Matt Pries, teacher from a family of teachers, offers some thoughts about why public schools have become a favorite target of the New Secesh. Here’s a bit of his article; I commend the entire piece to your attention.
Know Them by the Company They Keep 0
And some of them keep truly bad, bad company.
Marketing Malice 0
One of my post categories is “Hate Sells.” We see and hear persons trading in it every day.
At Psychology Today Blogs, Richard Lettieri explores why hate sells. He points out that, in the past few years, hate crimes–defined as “a crime against a person or property that is motivated by prejudice or hatred toward that group”–have increased, while other types of crimes have decreased. In his article, he explores the reasons for this. An excerpt:
It is a timely and worthwhile read.
The Misdirection Playbook 0
In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Kevin McDermott reveals the playbook (emphasis added):
It’s (the misdirection play–ed.) also a central component of conservative politics today.
If you’re under the impression that the biggest issues facing America are things like transgender participation in sports, school curriculum and the M&Ms cartoon spokespeople — and not the fact that the Republican Party is methodically working to relieve the rich of any responsibility whatsoever for funding the government, while putting the bill on the rest of us — you’re being played.
Follow the link for his reasoning.