What I'm Really Afraid Of

[LittleRaven]

The perpetuation of the "wage gap" myth and pushing quotas.

But these are coming out of the culture of academia...not the DNC. Sure, individual members of the DNC may occasionally quote such things, but what was the last piece of national legislation you remember that promised to address the wage gap? Same with quotas. Oh, many organizations most definitely employ 'soft' quotas of various kinds, but virtually none of these are enforced by legislation. (a possible exception is Title IX, but even that is old, old law...just being interpreted in a new way by the court) And the DNC certainly doesn't talk about expanding quotas...at worst, they merely lament lack of diversity in certain areas.

I mean, a lot of what comes out of the Left is annoying, but it's also cultural. The Left has a virtual lock on the national culture centers, and enjoys an outsized voice as a result in that arena. But culture and government are two different things. The Left has virtually no voice in our current government, and a very limited voice even with the DLC, because most party elders view the Left as a ticking time bomb that is just waiting to blow up and sink their electoral chances. (I suspect Bernie did little to change this view.)

And while government can influence culture and vice versa, neither one is a particularly effective at it - which is why the Right can have a virtual lock on the government and yet still watch the Culture drift away from them, and the Left can have the Culture sewn up but still watch the Right walk away with election after election.

[Worffan101]

The perpetuation of the "wage gap" myth and pushing quotas.

I mean, a lot of what comes out of the Left is annoying, but it's also cultural. The Left has a virtual lock on the national culture centers, and enjoys an outsized voice as a result in that arena. But culture and government are two different things. The Left has virtually no voice in our current government, and a very limited voice even with the DLC, because most party elders view the Left as a ticking time bomb that is just waiting to blow up and sink their electoral chances. (I suspect Bernie did little to change this view.)

Um...no?

Culture is shifting left, yes, but Fox News is still watched exclusively by about 40% of the population, and that's right-wing Pravda. The Right is FAR more unified than the Left; the evangelicals needed only a promise from Trump that he would police women's bodies and boom, they voted for him; meanwhile, Hillary was getting criticism from the Left right up until election day. Granted, Hillary is basically the Dems' answer to Mitt Romney (the "juggernaut" candidate who's only a juggernaut with upper-class voters), but still. The Left's divided between crazy fuckers like the Maoists and Stalinists, generic commies who're in it because they got told communism was bad by people who screwed them over and decided that they'd be commies, anarcho-socialists like me, nebulous left-populists like Bernie, social democrats, Brandeisian progressives, and even hardline neoliberals who commit more to social than economic libertarianism--and they ALL think the others are just as much of the enemy as the Right, even though most of them agree on the general endgame goals (everybody being free and equal and kicking Donald Trump in the fork because he's a horrible person). Differences of how to achieve the end goal has people who otherwise share 99% of the same ideas trying to kill each other, it's insane.

Meanwhile the Right, despite huge ideological differences, is united in lockstep to "trigger the libs" or whatever.

It's going to take decades to finally put the shambling corpse that is the American right-wing out of its misery and repair the obscene levels of damage it's done to our society, and it's frankly just plain depressing.

[clearspira]

The perpetuation of the "wage gap" myth and pushing quotas.

I mean, a lot of what comes out of the Left is annoying, but it's also cultural. The Left has a virtual lock on the national culture centers, and enjoys an outsized voice as a result in that arena. But culture and government are two different things. The Left has virtually no voice in our current government, and a very limited voice even with the DLC, because most party elders view the Left as a ticking time bomb that is just waiting to blow up and sink their electoral chances. (I suspect Bernie did little to change this view.)

Um...no?

Culture is shifting left, yes, but Fox News is still watched exclusively by about 40% of the population, and that's right-wing Pravda. The Right is FAR more unified than the Left; the evangelicals needed only a promise from Trump that he would police women's bodies and boom, they voted for him; meanwhile, Hillary was getting criticism from the Left right up until election day. Granted, Hillary is basically the Dems' answer to Mitt Romney (the "juggernaut" candidate who's only a juggernaut with upper-class voters), but still. The Left's divided between crazy fuckers like the Maoists and Stalinists, generic commies who're in it because they got told communism was bad by people who screwed them over and decided that they'd be commies, anarcho-socialists like me, nebulous left-populists like Bernie, social democrats, Brandeisian progressives, and even hardline neoliberals who commit more to social than economic libertarianism--and they ALL think the others are just as much of the enemy as the Right, even though most of them agree on the general endgame goals (everybody being free and equal and kicking Donald Trump in the fork because he's a horrible person). Differences of how to achieve the end goal has people who otherwise share 99% of the same ideas trying to kill each other, it's insane.

Meanwhile the Right, despite huge ideological differences, is united in lockstep to "trigger the libs" or whatever.

It's going to take decades to finally put the shambling corpse that is the American right-wing out of its misery and repair the obscene levels of damage it's done to our society, and it's frankly just plain depressing.

''The shambling corpse of the American right wing''. Look around you. The right wing is on the rise throughout the entire western world. Trump and Brexit are the major successes, but France, Sweden, and Germany all had the right come a close second in their recent elections. From where i am sitting, once the Nordic countries of all places start to get sick of the left wing, it is clear which side is currently on life support.
''and repair the obscene levels of damage it's done to our society, and it's frankly just plain depressing.'' I am going to level the exact same quote back at you but sub right for left.

[Worffan101]

The perpetuation of the "wage gap" myth and pushing quotas.

I mean, a lot of what comes out of the Left is annoying, but it's also cultural. The Left has a virtual lock on the national culture centers, and enjoys an outsized voice as a result in that arena. But culture and government are two different things. The Left has virtually no voice in our current government, and a very limited voice even with the DLC, because most party elders view the Left as a ticking time bomb that is just waiting to blow up and sink their electoral chances. (I suspect Bernie did little to change this view.)

Um...no?

Culture is shifting left, yes, but Fox News is still watched exclusively by about 40% of the population, and that's right-wing Pravda. The Right is FAR more unified than the Left; the evangelicals needed only a promise from Trump that he would police women's bodies and boom, they voted for him; meanwhile, Hillary was getting criticism from the Left right up until election day. Granted, Hillary is basically the Dems' answer to Mitt Romney (the "juggernaut" candidate who's only a juggernaut with upper-class voters), but still. The Left's divided between crazy fuckers like the Maoists and Stalinists, generic commies who're in it because they got told communism was bad by people who screwed them over and decided that they'd be commies, anarcho-socialists like me, nebulous left-populists like Bernie, social democrats, Brandeisian progressives, and even hardline neoliberals who commit more to social than economic libertarianism--and they ALL think the others are just as much of the enemy as the Right, even though most of them agree on the general endgame goals (everybody being free and equal and kicking Donald Trump in the fork because he's a horrible person). Differences of how to achieve the end goal has people who otherwise share 99% of the same ideas trying to kill each other, it's insane.

Meanwhile the Right, despite huge ideological differences, is united in lockstep to "trigger the libs" or whatever.

It's going to take decades to finally put the shambling corpse that is the American right-wing out of its misery and repair the obscene levels of damage it's done to our society, and it's frankly just plain depressing.

''The shambling corpse of the American right wing''. Look around you. The right wing is on the rise throughout the entire western world. Trump and Brexit are the major successes, but France, Sweden, and Germany all had the right come a close second in their recent elections. From where i am sitting, once the Nordic countries of all places start to get sick of the left wing, it is clear which side is currently on life support.
''and repair the obscene levels of damage it's done to our society, and it's frankly just plain depressing.'' I am going to level the exact same quote back at you but sub right for left.

Then explain to me why the Right keeps losing the popular vote here in the USA, why right-wing policies (especially social ones) are slowly losing ground, why the Right here is LITERALLY pulling stunts like trying to strip citizenship from natural-born Americans whose skin is too brown and trying to disenfranchise voters through statistically unnecessary voter-ID laws (which, ironically, might hurt THEM given that most voter fraud is done by right-wing nuts), and why it took the Democrats literally nominating a candidate who flat-out refused to campaign in her core states and who went and acted like fucking Dewey what with pretending that she'd already won before the election happened for Trump to win, and even THEN Trump didn't even properly win, just scraped by in the EC?

And between Reagan, Bush, and now Trump, the Right's managed to balloon our national debt by spending megabucks while slashing taxes, cripple our economy by bailing out billionaires while screwing over average Americans, ruin our international reputation through multiple obviously evil wars and policy actions, gut the nascent black middle class before it could properly get established, cause race relations to take a dive AGAIN, and make us the Bad Guy to most of the planet. The Right has fucking destroyed this country and it's going to take the better part of a century to get anywhere near a workable state again.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

Turd sandwich with cheeto dust was elected over McTurd sandwich. Sure would be nice if we had some kind of real choice in candidates but the DNC seems intent on continuing to fail to represent in the same ways the RNC are. And since they've rigged the system to the two viable choices I don't see it getting better - but I'll continue to vote independent anyway because that is the most valid protest vote I can make.

Are they? Did you even read the start of this thread?

The DNC isn't trying to tear down Row Vs Wade. The DNC isn't purging voter rolls. The DNC isn't trying to take away my right to marry. The DNC is at least moving towards a nation where people don't die because they can't afford insulin. The DNC is at least proposing ways to get college education to people without plunging them into a lifetime of debt. The DNC isn't complicit in the rampages of president Neelix. The DNC isn't made up of holocaust deniers or climate change deniers.

If the two major parties look the same from where you stand, please reconsider the position of your feet.

No. They are both garbage and it's not up to me to move. Please enjoy your fear bubble.

You refuted none of my points and acknowledged none of the things that the right is actually doing.

How has the Left threatened YOU? What rights of yours do the democrats stand to take away? Will you still be able to control your own sexual organs? Will you still be able to marry the person you love? Will you still be able to vote?

I'm not afraid because I'm in a bubble, I'm afraid because the rights and the people I care about are being threatened by the actions of the Republican block.

[Admiral X]

How has the Left threatened YOU? What rights of yours do the democrats stand to take away?

Freedom of speech, freedom of association, the right to keep and bear arms, due process, presumption of innocence, right against self incrimination, right to a fair trial, excessive fines, (9th and 10th amendments are pretty well shot to hell already), equal treatment under the law, reproductive rights, having recourse as a victim of sexual assault or rape (particularly when the attacker is a woman), and probably a bunch of other things I can't think of off the top of my head.

Will you still be able to control your own sexual organs?

Is this a reference to reproduction rights? Because you realize that men literally don't have any reproductive rights, right?

Will you still be able to marry the person you love?

Alas, I cannot marry TOG II*.

Will you still be able to vote?

Well I am a cis-gendered male who appears to be white in spite of my Native lineage, so under the identity politics lot, probably not.

[Worffan101]

How has the Left threatened YOU? What rights of yours do the democrats stand to take away?

Freedom of speech, freedom of association, the right to keep and bear arms, due process, presumption of innocence, right against self incrimination, right to a fair trial, excessive fines, (9th and 10th amendments are pretty well shot to hell already), equal treatment under the law, reproductive rights, having recourse as a victim of sexual assault or rape (particularly when the attacker is a woman), and probably a bunch of other things I can't think of off the top of my head.

You do know that the entire point of giving victims of sexual violence more resources is to...provide them with more resources, regardless of the gender of their attacker, right? This sounds like alt-right conspiracy fearmongering to me.

And telling Nazis that they can fuck off and not speak at a (private) college is not a First Amendment violation. It's just like a web forum kicking people off the site for being Nazis. Private space, private rules, and funny thing about this country, most people still don't like unapologetic Nazis like Richard Spencer.

Will you still be able to control your own sexual organs?

Is this a reference to reproduction rights? Because you realize that men literally don't have any reproductive rights, right?

Yes we do. Granted, rapes of men remain severely underreported due to societal pressure, but we do have the legal right to not be forced into sex or procreation. I don't think it's ever been tested in court but if you don't want kids and your girlfriend pokes holes in your condom you can probably sue for emotional harm. I know of a case of a woman who poked holes in her son's or son-in-law's condom, forget which, because she really wanted grandkids, I don't think the couple went to court but they had pretty good standing because the asshole admitted it to their faces and the woman had severe complications that had been part of the couple's decision to not have kids in the first place.

While we don't have anything comparable to a right to an abortion (because our bodily autonomy is not threatened by reproduction after the sexual act itself), we also don't NEED that right due to the simple facts of XY male biology. We don't carry the kids, we don't have abortions, we don't need that right.

Will you still be able to vote?

Well I am a cis-gendered male who appears to be white in spite of my Native lineage, so under the identity politics lot, probably not.

Don't be facetious. Literally nobody has ever seriously proposed this idea. And trust me, I surf FSTDT enough to know ALL of the greatest hits of the Internet's misogyny, misandry (which, yes, is a thing now--if you spend enough time talking to TERFs you'll realize that they've developed what's basically female ultranationalism, which is exactly as batshit insane as it sounds from that terminology), transphobia, and other general bigotry.

[Admiral X]

You do know that the entire point of giving victims of sexual violence more resources is to...provide them with more resources, regardless of the gender of their attacker, right?

Except that hasn't actually been the case. There is exactly one shelter for male victims of domestic violence, which is entirely privately funded, but has still been relentlessly attacked for all of its existence by feminists. Hell, the guy who founded it ended up offing himself over the constant attacks and harassment. On top of that, there is a general attitude against the idea that a man can be raped, especially if the rapist is a woman. Like a recent example where an obsessed ex broke into a guy's house and then held the guy hostage with a machete and demanded sex from him. The only reason he got out of that is that he managed to call the police by saying he was ordering out for pizza. Now, what is it called when a person is forced to have sex against their will? Yet both the police and the media covering the story all danced around it and refused to call it what it was, and the woman never got charged with a sexual crime, not even sexual assault or anything. I think the worst she got charged with was kidnapping.

This sounds like alt-right conspiracy fearmongering to me.

Everyone you don't agree with is alt-right, apparently.

And telling Nazis that they can fuck off and not speak at a (private) college is not a First Amendment violation. It's just like a web forum kicking people off the site for being Nazis.

Setting aside how loosely that term is applied, it certainly could be seen that way if the university takes any kind of public funding. Of course, we're not just talking about universities here since the question was about what rights were threatened by the left.

Yes we do.

Really? List them.

Granted, rapes of men remain severely underreported due to societal pressure, but we do have the legal right to not be forced into sex or procreation. I don't think it's ever been tested in court but if you don't want kids and your girlfriend pokes holes in your condom you can probably sue for emotional harm.

There have literally been cases of sperm theft where the guy was forced to pay child support for a child he didn't consent to have, and another case where the guy was just a donor for a lesbian couple, and then they ended up going after him for child support, and the court found in their favor.

While we don't have anything comparable to a right to an abortion (because our bodily autonomy is not threatened by reproduction after the sexual act itself), we also don't NEED that right due to the simple facts of XY male biology. We don't carry the kids, we don't have abortions, we don't need that right.

We could certainly use a right to legally divorce ourselves from the kid, though.

Don't be facetious.

Why not? The post I was responding to was, as apparently the one who asked the question never considered the fact that the Democratic Party is just as much a threat to individual rights as the Republican Party is.

Literally nobody has ever seriously proposed this idea.

There are plenty of people advocating for less rights for white cis-gendered men as part of their idea of "social justice."

[TGLS]

You do know that the entire point of giving victims of sexual violence more resources is to...provide them with more resources, regardless of the gender of their attacker, right?

Except that hasn't actually been the case. There is exactly one shelter for male victims of domestic violence, which is entirely privately funded, but has still been relentlessly attacked for all of its existence by feminists. Hell, the guy who founded it ended up offing himself over the constant attacks and harassment. On top of that, there is a general attitude against the idea that a man can be raped, especially if the rapist is a woman. Like a recent example where an obsessed ex broke into a guy's house and then held the guy hostage with a machete and demanded sex from him. The only reason he got out of that is that he managed to call the police by saying he was ordering out for pizza. Now, what is it called when a person is forced to have sex against their will? Yet both the police and the media covering the story all danced around it and refused to call it what it was, and the woman never got charged with a sexual crime, not even sexual assault or anything. I think the worst she got charged with was kidnapping.

This sounds like alt-right conspiracy fearmongering to me.

Everyone you don't agree with is alt-right, apparently.

And telling Nazis that they can fuck off and not speak at a (private) college is not a First Amendment violation. It's just like a web forum kicking people off the site for being Nazis.

Setting aside how loosely that term is applied, it certainly could be seen that way if the university takes any kind of public funding. Of course, we're not just talking about universities here since the question was about what rights were threatened by the left.

Yes we do.

Really? List them.

Granted, rapes of men remain severely underreported due to societal pressure, but we do have the legal right to not be forced into sex or procreation. I don't think it's ever been tested in court but if you don't want kids and your girlfriend pokes holes in your condom you can probably sue for emotional harm.

There have literally been cases of sperm theft where the guy was forced to pay child support for a child he didn't consent to have, and another case where the guy was just a donor for a lesbian couple, and then they ended up going after him for child support, and the court found in their favor.

While we don't have anything comparable to a right to an abortion (because our bodily autonomy is not threatened by reproduction after the sexual act itself), we also don't NEED that right due to the simple facts of XY male biology. We don't carry the kids, we don't have abortions, we don't need that right.

We could certainly use a right to legally divorce ourselves from the kid, though.

Don't be facetious.

Why not? The post I was responding to was, as apparently the one who asked the question never considered the fact that the Democratic Party is just as much a threat to individual rights as the Republican Party is.

Literally nobody has ever seriously proposed this idea.

There are plenty of people advocating for less rights for white cis-gendered men as part of their idea of "social justice."

Citations? Sources?

[LittleRaven]

Um...no?

Uh....yes.

I notice you jump right to Fox News...and then you stop. That's not a coincidence...Fox News is literally all the Right has when it comes to cultural clout. Every other network, every late night talk show, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime...they're all dominated by a leftist world-view. I mean seriously...can you name ONE television show on ANY network that portrays the Right as anything remotely positive? They are almost universally portrayed as inbred hicks, corporate overlords or resentful racists. 62 million people voted for Trump. They're not ALL bad. But you wouldn't know it from watching most media today - because Democrats have an absolute stranglehold on all the major cultural centers in the country. Of course, this concentration of voters comes back to bite Democrats in the electoral college, but hey...no such thing as a free lunch.

The Right is FAR more unified than the Left; the evangelicals needed only a promise from Trump that he would police women's bodies and boom, they voted for him; meanwhile, Hillary was getting criticism from the Left right up until election day.

Sure, but that's literally always been the case. The Democrats are much bigger tent than the Republicans, and have been for darn near a century. On the one hand, that's good, because it means there are WAY more Democrats than Republicans...and there are. On the other hand, it means more opportunities for infighting, and between geographic concentration and the fact that Republicans are much more likely to actually vote than Democrats, the numbers advantage is greatly reduced.

"I'm not a member of any organized political party. I'm a Democrat."

Just as true today as it was when Will said it.

It's going to take decades to finally put the shambling corpse that is the American right-wing out of its misery and repair the obscene levels of damage it's done to our society, and it's frankly just plain depressing.

As bad has Trump has been, he hasn't started any wars yet. So at least he's better than W...although admittedly that is a low, LOW bar.