Pretty Good

Pretty Good

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Alex Pretti.

Renee Good.

It's a strange synchronicity that the two people shot by thugs in Minnesota also both have last names that are amongst the highest positive valence words in the English language.

As if the universe itself was pointing out how evil all of this is.

But you don't need to hear my outrage.

You have your own.

The grifters, politicians, and working people who are enriching themselves with this evil machine are repugnant morons.

But let's not forget that this country has always used illegal violence against those who oppose state authority.

There are thousands of examples big and small.

To say nothing of the violence we've inflicted on people in other countries around the world.

To be clear, supporting this American regime is an obvious sign of moral and intellectual deficiency.

But they are also victims of a system that has told them how to think, feel, and act. Just like you and I are told.

And one of the things they've been told is that liberals are evil. It defines their in-group identity. Because in their minds, we're the ones eroding the old social order that gives them (and many of us) privileges.

And when your in-group is threatened by an out-group, real or imagined, then you will also begin to dehumanize. It's part of our human biology which we have yet to overcome.

So while MAGA lives in a tiny yard, ignoring the evidence of their eyes and ears, making a mockery of The Golden Rule, remember, you and I are not above this.

I implore you. Search your mind. Which group of people do you think of as less than you?

People from a certain country?

A certain profession?

A certain gender?

Why do you believe that? Who has built and reinforced that belief in your life?

And how would you treat those people if someone told you every day that they were a threat to your way of life?

We're dealing with fools who make terrible decisions. AND they live inside a system of constraints that makes it hard for them to make good decisions.

We are also fools. We are subject to different constraints, but not free of them.

We've all been subjected to the Red vs. Blue game for our whole lives. It keeps us from pointing the finger at the people who are really causing the problems (the owners of the industrial system).

Make no mistake. Those of us who are outraged by the events unfolding day-by-day are on the right side of history. We're the smart side. The compassionate side. The side that doesn't lead to ruin and death.

But don't think for a minute, that we aren't also propagandized just like they are. Or that we are incapable of the same evils.

Watch yourself.

No one above you. No one below.

Cover Art: Doug Groupp