I see where today is Blog Like a Conservative Day, which I'm not going to do because (a) I think it's kind of counterproductive and mean and plays into a lot of the stereotypes conservatives spread around about liberals (more about which anon) and (b) I don't read any conservative blogs or pundits. Honestly, where do you people find the time, it's all I can do to keep up with the liberal and progressive ones!
Instead I want to talk about the South. My ruminations started with Nancy Goldstein's article about capital punishment in Alabama and some good people working to rectify that appalling, racist situation. Then I read Carla's post on the Handbook of Southern Manners which takes said handbook to task for, I guess, being hypocritical and dealing with manners instead of politics. (Interesting reactions in her comments section as well.) Then Billmon started to tear into Texas then took it back. But what topped it off for me were Amanda's musings on how she feels "cultural issues are effective distractions from class issues" and an observation, from a Southern viewpoint, of how "we've been persuaded that liberal East Coast elitists hate us."
And I can't help but feel that's true. (I'm guilty myself of assuming certain things when I hear certain accents, but as a former linguistics major I realize I'm doing it and try to compensate.) I mean, there are grains of truth behind every stereotype, but this divisive administration has only made things worse, and it's almost like people are acting proud to be elitist, or racist, or hypocritical or whatever. Yes, there's horrible racism in the South (and in the North), but there are people in the South working to combat that. Yes, there's a schmuck who ran over a field of symbolic crosses, but there's also his cousin who chose to make amends by inviting Camp Casey onto his grounds. And yes, we Northerners and/or liberals pride ourselves (hmm, pride, isn't that one of the seven deadly sins?) on being so much more enlightened than our conservative/Southern brethren, but we can't help using fancy words (I mean, "ruminations?" honestly) and breathlessly blogging about our summer vacations in Europe and the expensive foods we encounter. We're feeding into this divisiveness every bit as much as they are.
There are good people and idiots everywhere, folks, and the trick is for the good people not to stoop to the level of the bad people, not to throw things in the face of an entire group just because you believe some members of that group to be godless or stupid or elitist or anything else that doesn't fit your personal standard.
So yeah, I'm not Blogging Like a Conservative today, or apparently like a liberal either.
Instead I want to talk about the South. My ruminations started with Nancy Goldstein's article about capital punishment in Alabama and some good people working to rectify that appalling, racist situation. Then I read Carla's post on the Handbook of Southern Manners which takes said handbook to task for, I guess, being hypocritical and dealing with manners instead of politics. (Interesting reactions in her comments section as well.) Then Billmon started to tear into Texas then took it back. But what topped it off for me were Amanda's musings on how she feels "cultural issues are effective distractions from class issues" and an observation, from a Southern viewpoint, of how "we've been persuaded that liberal East Coast elitists hate us."
And I can't help but feel that's true. (I'm guilty myself of assuming certain things when I hear certain accents, but as a former linguistics major I realize I'm doing it and try to compensate.) I mean, there are grains of truth behind every stereotype, but this divisive administration has only made things worse, and it's almost like people are acting proud to be elitist, or racist, or hypocritical or whatever. Yes, there's horrible racism in the South (and in the North), but there are people in the South working to combat that. Yes, there's a schmuck who ran over a field of symbolic crosses, but there's also his cousin who chose to make amends by inviting Camp Casey onto his grounds. And yes, we Northerners and/or liberals pride ourselves (hmm, pride, isn't that one of the seven deadly sins?) on being so much more enlightened than our conservative/Southern brethren, but we can't help using fancy words (I mean, "ruminations?" honestly) and breathlessly blogging about our summer vacations in Europe and the expensive foods we encounter. We're feeding into this divisiveness every bit as much as they are.
There are good people and idiots everywhere, folks, and the trick is for the good people not to stoop to the level of the bad people, not to throw things in the face of an entire group just because you believe some members of that group to be godless or stupid or elitist or anything else that doesn't fit your personal standard.
So yeah, I'm not Blogging Like a Conservative today, or apparently like a liberal either.
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