Conservatives March to End the Color Green
No, this didn’t actually happen. But their behavior makes it totally believable.
This story is one of many I wrote earlier this year but decided to temporarily shelf. I’ve been internally debating whether any of this writing makes a positive difference in the world. On one hand, calling out conservative ignorance and idiocy seems to do nothing to prevent it, and perhaps only feeds the trolls of the Right. On the other, I’m preaching to the choir; all the other forward thinkers of the world are already aware of the bigotry that plagues our society.
I like to think that putting these thoughts out into the world further expands the discussion of the topic at hand. But I have to wonder whether it only amplifies the progressive echo chambers I frequent. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but does it really help solve the problems I’m addressing?
I’ll spare the details of my thought process for another story and fast forward to my decision to move ahead with this one (and others). I’ve basically accepted that conservatives certainly aren’t going to read this. And if they do somehow stumble outside their polarized end of the Medium algorithm, they certainly won’t take my pointed remarks as a sign that they should change their ways. At this point, there’s no reasoning with those who have willingly abandoned reason.
But perhaps echoing the sentiments of my progressive friends will help drown out the ignorance and hostility of the Right’s online presence and reassure the world that modern society is overwhelmingly in favor of equality, empathy, artistry and diversity. Even if I’m only reiterating progressive talking points, my hope is that I can signal to my forward-thinking friends that we are indeed strong and united in our effort to make the world a more inclusive place. We just have to hope that the result of our mission will set a positive example and inspire people on the Right to join us in the more vibrant world we strive to achieve.
That being said, let’s dive into my little rant.
New Ideas: The Conservative’s Kryptonite
It’s 5:00pm on Thursday, February 25, 2021. I planned on dedicating this time to my music today, but here I am writing this instead. Why? I came across a troubling collection of comments on an Instagram post, of all places. As per usual, it’s the conservatives crawling out of their hovels to insult people for being different than they are. At this point, I’m not surprised in the least. But it’s still upsetting.
The New York Times posted the results of a Gallup poll that found that 5.6% of Gen Zers interviewed identify as LGBTQ, or roughly 1 in 6. The image they chose is colorful and celebratory, which I thought was entirely appropriate. My immediate thoughts:
“Wow that’s great! It’s so nice to know we’ve made enough social progress that this many young people can come out and proudly declare their sexuality. Things can only improve from here as the next generation refuses to live in fear of discrimination. They’ll have such fulfilling lives knowing they’re free to feel comfortable in their own skin from a young age, unlike LGBTQ folks in every previous generation who had no option but to suppress their identity and accept silent psychological traumas so that they might avoid hate, harassment and violence from the public.”
But, as expected, plenty of people didn’t share my optimism. The first handful of comments were incredibly hostile and insulting to the LGBTQ community. The closed-minded crowd went out of their way to talk about how “we’re regressing” or that Gen Z is the worst generation. Some even thought it was a sign that the world is ending. Plenty asserted why and how others “should” behave as they do, typically using the Bible as a source of truth. I wonder when they’ll realize that other books were written? This sure seems like something the “think for yourself” crowd struggles with continuously.
There were a few positive comments sprinkled here and there, but I chose to give my blood pressure a break and didn’t read much more. I left a comment of my own, standing up for the LGBTQ community and immediately started typing this story. As insignificant as those handful of comments may have been in the grand scheme, they are indicative of significant social hurdles we still have yet to overcome. There’s a lot to unpack here.
So what does this have to do with the color green?
Nothing. And everything. I’ll explain. The comments on that post only strengthen my theory that the conservative ideology is purely reactionary. Rarely does the right stand for much of anything. They wish to conserve the way things once were, right? So they basically sit around until progressives try to make the world a more inclusive and pleasant place. Only then do they mobilize — in opposition.
They always take a contrary stance. And, in most cases, they’re contrary purely for the sake of being contrary. They vote for Republicans solely because they aren’t Democrats. They vote down new ideas solely because they’re new. They won’t try unfamiliar activities in their own lives solely because they’re unfamiliar.
Sure, the Left is plenty guilty of contrarianism as well. But the Left generally opposes policies that are undeniably racist, bigoted, destructive, or exclusionary. The Left generally stands for equality and mutual respect.
That being said, I’m thoroughly convinced that if a poll were to be released showing that progressives prefer the color green, conservatives would rise up to oppose the color green solely because of the fact that progressives enjoy it. Call me dramatic if you wish. But let’s look at a few relevant examples.
LGBTQ Rights
During Trump’s “presidency,” the US held on through a heap of inhumane, selfish, and destructive initiatives. Among them was the GOP’s effort to allow employers to discriminate against employees or potential hires based on their sexual orientation. Luckily it failed to pass the Supreme Court.
But it just reveals how far they’re willing to go to oppose the happiness and well-being of others. Referring back to the comments on that NYT post, the Right seems scared to death of those with differing sexual orientations. They act as if it it’s dangerous. They feel threatened. “It’s the end of the world” after all.
But let’s be real. How ignorant or heartless do you have to be to seriously feel like someone’s sexual preference is a detriment to society? Whether a man holds hands with another man or a teenager puts their preferred gender pronoun in their Twitter bio, these actions have absolutely zero negative impact on you, or anyone else for that matter.
It’s not like one of your ribs suddenly splinters in half every time a gay couple gets married. In no way, shape, or form do the love lives of others inflict harm on anyone else. If you’re upset by someone else’s happiness, that’s entirely on you.
Yet conservatives will go through the effort of harassing people online and even taking to the streets to oppose the happiness of others. By that logic, they might as well take to the streets because people have a different favorite color. If they sincerely believe that people finding happiness and leading fulfilling lives is the “end of the world,” then they must live in an entirely different reality. Honestly, this makes B Kean’s suggestion to remove Deep South states from the Union start to feel like a welcome idea.
Freedom? Yeah, right.
The other part of this that bothers me so much is the fact that conservatives are the most outspoken proponents of freedom. Yet they’ll do everything in their power to suppress the freedoms of people they deem different. Whether through legislation or by asserting how people “should” express affection (sounds more like assimilation than freedom to me), the Right can’t stand the thought of granting freedom to others.
Even if these Gen Z youth are “figuring out who they are,” just let them figure it out! Don’t they have the freedom to do so? And I guarantee that whatever they ultimately decide won’t affect you or anyone else in the least.
Coming back to the idea of contrarianism, it seems that conservatives justify this behavior by demonizing or “othering” people. They’ll shoot down social programs that would successfully enhance both our democracy and economy simply because they contain the word “social.” This is especially true when it means that those “other” people would also enjoy free healthcare, free maternity leave, six weeks paid vacation annually, free college, and better addiction treatment. “I didn’t get none of that, so why should they?”
Moreover, rather than celebrating the fact that we could all enjoy social benefits together, they’ll find any excuse to suggest that anyone who is different is a problem whether it’s based on their sexual orientation, skin color, country of birth, political ideology, education level, native language, you name it. They’ll belt out the words “this land was made for you and me” but aren’t willing to acknowledge anyone other than “me me me.”
The glorification of “me me me” is what it all boils down to, isn’t it? It’s all part of this unnecessarily hostile and masculine idea of “Rugged Individualism.” It’s hilarious how they prop up individualism like this, yet they’ll jump at the opportunity to harass anyone who doesn’t behave exactly as they do.
They’ve created this culture in which value is derived from one’s adherence to the social norms they grew up with (there’s their preference for assimilation over freedom again, despite the core beliefs they claim to hold) and “patriotic” expectations founded on… well, just the fact that it’s what others did before them.
It’s the old “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mindset. But I’ve got news that isn’t so new. For those “different” people, the system has been broken from the start. And we’re finally fixing it.
