WTF?

Nobody panics when things go "according to plan." Even if the plan is horrifying! If, tomorrow, I tell the press that, like, a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it's all "part of the plan". But when I say that one little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds!
-- The Joker

I've no idea what is happening to people on the left. Since Brexit and the election of the Cheeto Chimp, their butthurt has been spectacularly entertaining. But now they're starting to seriously unravel.

Apparently, it's perfectly OK to now go around punching people just because they have the wrong kind of odious views. Richard Spencer has been extremely careful NOT to call for violence or genocide, though there is little doubt that his views are racist and vile. Unfortunately, they are within the law, the boundaries of which have been set by progressives for decades. So despite him being a very nasty piece of work, he is a legally nasty piece of work. When did it become socially acceptable to go around punching people for perfectly legal points of view? Especially when "your side" has set the limits of tolerance?

There are all sorts of things that I can see going on from here. Firstly, I can see progressives being punched by thuggish neo-nazis at protests. What will lefties say then? Secondly, I can see it escalating beyond sucker punches into beatings, knifings, shootings. Thirdly, I can see innocent bystanders getting hurt or killed. Why shoot up a school when you can mow down a pussy march? Or mow down the accompanying counter-protest?

Assaulting people who are within the law is never acceptable, no matter how odious their views. Assaulting people outside the law shouldn't actually be acceptable to people who believe in statism, either. That's the violence you outsource to the state.

Oh, and while we're talking about "assault", guess who defined shoving someone as an assault? That would be progressives. So don't be surprised or macho or pious when your definitions are used against you.

Yeah, you're upset. Yeah, your weltanschauung has ruled the roost for your entire lifetime. But things have changed and now the wrong people are getting their turn. Now you'll get to see how they've felt: mocked, marginalised, their views laughed at and belittled. Maybe, instead of going round punching people, you can learn from this and see that your arrogance and self-righteousness made a large chunk of the population feel like you feel. Maybe next time your team runs the show, you should be a little more conciliatory and a little more tolerant.

You never know, it might actually win people over, rather than alienating them.

Fuckface Von Clownstick

I must admit, I didn't see that coming. Mind you, I didn't think Brexit would happen either. AND I was hoping for Scottish independence.

I recently read an analysis of inequality that made a sort of sense to me. It doesn't matter how much inequality there is. It matters how much inequality people perceive. This is why most Americans are comfortable with inequality. They see it as an inspiration or aspiration. British people are much more disdainful about wealth and so prefer to redistribute wealth.

I'm not sure I see wealth as an inspiration or aspiration, but inequality doesn't bother me.

But it does strike me that you could make the same argument about democratic inequality. There is a large section of society that feels like it doesn't matter how they vote. The same old bien-pensant shit keeps on coming out of government.

Of course, a large section of society is comfortable with the same old bien-pensant shit. They're the ones that vote. They hold earnest discussions with their peers. They tweet pious messages of virtue, solidarity and instruction.

Along came the Scottish independence referendum. An unusual opportunity to effect real change. And the Scots leapt at it. Of course, the case for independence was too optimistic. The Scots declined the opportunity.

The Brexit referendum was an appalling display of the worst of British politics. Neither side made a compelling case. The unique history of Britain means Britons are sceptical about the European project. I think Britons don't trust the EU. The ongoing accusations of racism and xenophobia are wide of the mark. Of course there are some bigots who are anti-EU. But most Britons just don't trust the opaque, rapacious EU. I don't think claims of money for the NHS swayed a single person.

But this wasn't just about the rumbling mistrust of the EU. This was a chance for British people who feel like their votes don't matter to change things. To upset the bien-pensant apple cart.

And so to the US election. I'm pretty sure there were some racists and xenophobes who voted for Trump. I'm pretty sure he's a prick. But although he's moneyed and a gobshite, he's not a politician. I think a lot of people looked at the Clinton machine and thought: that's going to be more of the same. The chattering classes who like the way things are going just assumed she'd walk it. But it turns out that enough people are sick of the same-old, same-old to change it.

Of course, Trumpism won't change anything. It won't herald a new white supremacist era. It won't lead to walls. I don't think it will lead to any significant drained swamps. I don't think he'll sit on the the Big Red Button by mistake.

I hope Trump's election will make politicians and the commentariat think. Especially about how they treat people they just dismiss now.