Misha Ellison
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thread 1/10
Language is Everything.

Let's tackle that wussy-soft label "conservative".
02:35 PM - Aug 13, 2023
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Misha Ellison
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thread 2/10
I've said this before, and I mean it:

My favorite supremacists are the ones who own it.

Really.
02:35 PM - Aug 13, 2023
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Misha Ellison
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thread 3/10
I'll explain.

White supremacy remains our country's original sin, ingrained in our institutions, policies, systems to the point where it's "normal". We struggle to acknowledge that, let alone to do the hard, costly work to correct it.

It's euphemistic of me to even say "struggle".
02:35 PM - Aug 13, 2023
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Misha Ellison
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thread 4/10
The reality is, we work at NOT acknowledging it. Hard. We've spent decades - centuries - developing language to avoid acknowledging the reality of the supremacist impulse affecting all aspects of American life.

We know it's bad to *say* "I believe rights and privileges belong to my tribe only."
02:35 PM - Aug 13, 2023
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Misha Ellison
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thread 5/10
We know it's bad to *say* "Power should only be in the hands of... white... christian... fascist... men... "

We know when we say those things, there is a cost. We become known as the types of people who would say things like "I'm better than you because God says I am. Know your place or die."
02:35 PM - Aug 13, 2023
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Misha Ellison
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thread 6/10
So we gaslight instead.

We invent language that lets us shield ourselves from incurring that cost.

We don't have to say we're "supremacists". We can just say we're "conservative."
02:36 PM - Aug 13, 2023
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Misha Ellison
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thread 7/10
I'm sure someone reading this will argue with me. They'll say something like "sure, that's what 'conservatives' are today, but it hasn't always been like that."

Yes it has.

The language developed for a reason.
02:36 PM - Aug 13, 2023
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Misha Ellison
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thread 8/10
Gaslighting language develops specifically to allow those who want to do bad things and say bad things the opportunity to avoid paying the cost for doing those bad things and saying those bad things.
02:36 PM - Aug 13, 2023
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Misha Ellison
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thread 9/10
So I return to my original thought.

My favorite supremacists are the ones who own it.

At least they're not gaslighting me about it. At least they're owning it.

That's at least a step better than all the gaslighters hiding behind that wussy-soft label "conservative."
02:36 PM - Aug 13, 2023
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Misha Ellison
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thread 10/10
Now I'll wait for the inevitable "you don't understand conservatism... not all 'conservatives'... you're talking about a small fraction..."

Try me.

/end
02:36 PM - Aug 13, 2023
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