Monday, June 4, 2018

Blue State Privilege

You know what irritates me? People who say things like, "I want everyone who lives in a state that voted for Trump to suffer." You know why that irritates me? Because I live in a state that voted for Trump and I DIDN'T vote for the Tangerine Tyrant. Yet because I have the misfortune of living in a state which votes Republican, if it can be bothered to vote at all (TN has the LOWEST voter turnout in the country) they want to see me suffer.

Well, okay, maybe they don't want to see me suffer, but lots of people in this state suffer. That way those people will vote for a Democratic candidate for all the "right" reasons. Me? Personally, I don't care why you vote Democratic. Maybe you think that the candidate is "sexy," or maybe you're mad because the Republican candidate doesn't support Trump enough. It doesn't matter to me, all I know is that the more Republicans that are in power, the worse my life is (and as a white male, I can only guess at the kind of horror show it must be for someone who ISN'T a white male).

I don't have the luxury of picking such things. All I care about is that the candidate has a "D" next to their name and that they'll occasionally vote with the Democrats as a whole. Would I like a candidate who was a clone of someone like Hillary or Elizabeth Warren? You're goddamned right I would, but if all I can get is someone who only votes with fellow Democrats 51% of the time, I'm going to take them without hesitation because I know that they're far fucking better than what I have now, which are Trumpian sycophants.

But go ahead with your blue state privilege and hold out for that perfect candidate and voters who are in lockstep with you. That's fine. Just know that I'll be at every Democratic event in my state that I can, and I'll be pushing MY agenda (which is probably far more radical than what you want). And if we ever find ourselves in a reversed situation, know that I will NOT suggest that you should suffer because you live in a state which voted in a way I don't agree with. Know that I will do what I can to see that you're well taken care of, that you don't have to worry that the loss of a job or a sudden illness will bankrupt you and put you out on the streets.

You and I may disagree, but that doesn't mean that I want to see you suffer for it. I know what homelessness is like, I know how humiliating it is to have to beg people for help to cover your basic needs. And because I know these things (and other things far worse) I don't want anyone to have to endure them, regardless of what their political beliefs are. So I will fight to see that nobody else has to endure them. Because if I don't, then I am no better than the society which inflicted them upon me.