Shannon Skinner (she/her) on Nostr: "Are Americans going to storm the streets, government buildings, or organize general ...
"Are Americans going to storm the streets, government buildings, or organize general strikes across their nation?"
I posit that if you walked down the street in any given US city today and asked Americans about their reaction to the Supreme Court ruling yesterday, most of them would not know what you are talking about. They certainly could not articulate the relevant implications for their lives and the lives of marginalized communities.
The level of willful ignorance present here defies comprehension. Less than a handful of my friends can discuss American politics with competence. Forget about foreign politics.
Consider that the US ranks 125th internationally for literacy. 54% of Americans between the ages of 16-74 read below a sixth grade level. (https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/08/02/us-literacy-rate/)
Even Americans that do consume news mostly get their daily diet from Fox and other mainstream outlets that spew propaganda and, at best, ask the wrong questions, skew the story or barely skim the surface.
We are a country that has lost its will to fight. Those that want to fight have been smacked down too many times. Others would rather retreat to the couch for some good ole football or mindless reality TV to just get through the day and preserve what's left of their sanity.
We have become accustomed to losing the fight against obscene inequity. I can't even get any of my friends to picket union-busting Trader Joe's for an hour on a Saturday.
With mostly everyone one paycheck or medical emergency away from homelessness (seriously), the price of losing one's job in a general strike is a real threat. Especially now that SCOTUS has criminalized living on the street (not that most Americans know that - yet).
Boiling frog syndrome applies. I have come to believe that most of us don't mind boiling to death tomorrow, as long as we can still get that fancy latte at the Starbucks drive-thru today.
Sorry (not sorry?) for the rant, but as one of the folks who advocates for fighting against an impending dictatorship, I have some feelings.
I posit that if you walked down the street in any given US city today and asked Americans about their reaction to the Supreme Court ruling yesterday, most of them would not know what you are talking about. They certainly could not articulate the relevant implications for their lives and the lives of marginalized communities.
The level of willful ignorance present here defies comprehension. Less than a handful of my friends can discuss American politics with competence. Forget about foreign politics.
Consider that the US ranks 125th internationally for literacy. 54% of Americans between the ages of 16-74 read below a sixth grade level. (https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/08/02/us-literacy-rate/)
Even Americans that do consume news mostly get their daily diet from Fox and other mainstream outlets that spew propaganda and, at best, ask the wrong questions, skew the story or barely skim the surface.
We are a country that has lost its will to fight. Those that want to fight have been smacked down too many times. Others would rather retreat to the couch for some good ole football or mindless reality TV to just get through the day and preserve what's left of their sanity.
We have become accustomed to losing the fight against obscene inequity. I can't even get any of my friends to picket union-busting Trader Joe's for an hour on a Saturday.
With mostly everyone one paycheck or medical emergency away from homelessness (seriously), the price of losing one's job in a general strike is a real threat. Especially now that SCOTUS has criminalized living on the street (not that most Americans know that - yet).
Boiling frog syndrome applies. I have come to believe that most of us don't mind boiling to death tomorrow, as long as we can still get that fancy latte at the Starbucks drive-thru today.
Sorry (not sorry?) for the rant, but as one of the folks who advocates for fighting against an impending dictatorship, I have some feelings.