Great analysis, Steve. It is just interesting to see the systematic takeover of the right in so short a time. It's frightening what next year may bring people don't vote.
Agreed. Low turnout is a serious problem in SC, where people probably perceive the real effects of gerrymandering and “just vote” becomes a way of preserving the status quo— oops, just did Critical Theory again! But seriously, low turnout is scary, as are these more and more open embraces of ideas that were popular with reactionaries in the ‘60s.
Thank you, Steve, for this analysis of the coded racial politics of the anti-CRT movement. I got interested in Chris Rufo back when all this started and dug into the Manhattan Institute—his institutional “home.” To my vast surprise, I discovered it was allied with the Kochs and much of their activity was aimed at … climate change denial? Which puzzled me at first and then, as I thought more about it, actually began to fit. Because if people are thinking about racism in society and broadly advocating for reform, they might start noodling around into the issue of environmental racism… and that could end up opening a whole other can of worms as young people start asking questions about the future their elders are depriving them of by pursuing the filthy riches of the carbon-greedy economy. You’re doing great work. Thank you for being a lone voice of sanity in a place that often seems more like a lunatic asylum than one of the 50 states.
Thanks for the feedback! My observation is a lot of stuff that is about "culture war" on its face ultimately leads back to billionaire "libertarians" who mostly don't want to pay taxes or follow labor laws. It seems like inasmuch as they really have a specific political ideology, it's mostly because it's convenient to argue that you shouldn't have to pay taxes when you also at least pretend to believe that an unrestricted private "free market" is the best/ only way to solve problems like public education, healthcare, etc. So we see the Kochs, Jeff Yass, ALEC, etc. dropping insane amounts of money into lobbying around education, and folks like Chris Rufo creating an ideological framework (such as it is) to make it all seem to make sense to non-billionaires who are probably more motivated by sincere concerns about their children, their communities, and the economy.
Great analysis, Steve. It is just interesting to see the systematic takeover of the right in so short a time. It's frightening what next year may bring people don't vote.
Agreed. Low turnout is a serious problem in SC, where people probably perceive the real effects of gerrymandering and “just vote” becomes a way of preserving the status quo— oops, just did Critical Theory again! But seriously, low turnout is scary, as are these more and more open embraces of ideas that were popular with reactionaries in the ‘60s.
Thank you, Steve, for this analysis of the coded racial politics of the anti-CRT movement. I got interested in Chris Rufo back when all this started and dug into the Manhattan Institute—his institutional “home.” To my vast surprise, I discovered it was allied with the Kochs and much of their activity was aimed at … climate change denial? Which puzzled me at first and then, as I thought more about it, actually began to fit. Because if people are thinking about racism in society and broadly advocating for reform, they might start noodling around into the issue of environmental racism… and that could end up opening a whole other can of worms as young people start asking questions about the future their elders are depriving them of by pursuing the filthy riches of the carbon-greedy economy. You’re doing great work. Thank you for being a lone voice of sanity in a place that often seems more like a lunatic asylum than one of the 50 states.
Thanks for the feedback! My observation is a lot of stuff that is about "culture war" on its face ultimately leads back to billionaire "libertarians" who mostly don't want to pay taxes or follow labor laws. It seems like inasmuch as they really have a specific political ideology, it's mostly because it's convenient to argue that you shouldn't have to pay taxes when you also at least pretend to believe that an unrestricted private "free market" is the best/ only way to solve problems like public education, healthcare, etc. So we see the Kochs, Jeff Yass, ALEC, etc. dropping insane amounts of money into lobbying around education, and folks like Chris Rufo creating an ideological framework (such as it is) to make it all seem to make sense to non-billionaires who are probably more motivated by sincere concerns about their children, their communities, and the economy.