Finding my voice

I lost my voice.

For more than two years I tried to avoid saying anything controversial - for a number of (mostly stupid) reasons.  So even if no one reads this but me - and that's the most likely scenario anyway - I will use this space to get back into the swing of thinking and writing again.

I wrote this on Facebook a couple of weeks ago, but I plan to use the blog more.  If I really want people to see what I write, I have had some practice promoting things.

I hope and expect I won't be all politics all the time.  There are far better things to think about.  But in these times it seems important to speak out on any number of issues.  Here's one.

Can we finally stop trying to "understand" the aggrieved white dude who thinks "his country" has been taken away? And while we're at it, can we stop the false equivalence "from many sides" fantasies? A bunch of neo-nazis just converged to support a symbol of treason in defense of slavery. That is evil. That is domestic terrorism. It has no place in a society based on the ideals of freedom and liberty. Full stop.

Can we finally put to rest the idea that hateful ideology is just another idea we should listen to in the name of "free speech?" Reasonable people do not have to "tolerate" views of warmed-over eugenics and fever-dream conspiracy theories. The first amendment keeps racists and bigots out of jail, it doesn't require everyone else to listen to their garbage.

"Free speech" doesn't force an employer to keep idiots who think some of their colleagues are biologically inferior or genetically predisposed to substandard levels of performance. That's like requiring the folks at NASA to stop and listen to the guy who thinks the moon landing was faked.

Enough is enough. If you're an "aggrieved" white dude who needs someone to blame for keeping you down, look in the mirror. You're an asshole. Nobody wants to work with you, listen to you, or understand your "pain." It's time to put your big boy pants on, realize the world is actually better now that people with non-white-male perspectives have a say in things, and make a meaningful contribution.

That's not "political correctness." That's just truth.