Mastodawn

Glenn Fleishman

Why do so many hard-fought gains appear to be losing ground? It’s because they were successful in fighting entrenched, typically regressive or oligarchic interests. When they’re *winning* they have no need to fight back: the prisoners enforce the rules of the jail. It’s when society appears ready to accept trans people, marriage equality, a return of worker rights—the revanchists fight the hardest. They have already lost the battle of hearts and minds.

https://masto.ai/@rbreich/109877102259174384

Robert Reich (@[email protected])

Remember: Mega-corporations wouldn’t be deploying massive union-busting campaigns if they weren’t terrified of worker power.

Mastodon

Glenn Fleishman Feb 17, 2023

It's a shitty time to live through for those affected, which is a very large %age of people in America and many other countries. If you fit into one of the broad categories Republicans, the far-right TERFs, even so-called progressives are targeting *OR* anyone you love, respect, or care about is in those categories, it's cold comfort for me to say, “They're fighting so hard because they've lost." We and you and they have to live through this. I have family and friends 100% targeted. Not academic

Glenn Fleishman Feb 17, 2023

I'll just reiterate: the people against progress, inclusion—against love, growth, and an improvement in people’s lives and happiness generally—aren’t fighting this hard because they are the winners. But they can be very good at torturing everyone. Losers burn the place down on their way out. That has to be stopped.

Extinction (our fate)Feb 17, 2023

@glennf We have to physically, legally and completely stop them. Turn the ship.

@glennf if this is what it looks like when they've lost, I'd hate to see what it'd be like if they won

Glenn Fleishman Feb 17, 2023

@mav They "won" before. This is when they're losing. Go back 5, 10, 20, 50 years to see what winning looked like.

@glennf 10 years ago abortion was legal and in most (all?) states you could get healthcare if you were trans youth. Neither is true today. It'll be 20+ years before either is true again.

More than likely, we're looking at a nationwide abortion ban after '24 and ... well, I don't really know what happens for trans folks. Could be a nationwide ban on trans healthcare under 18, that's definitely feasible. Basically all of the SCOTUS decisions that made it legal to be openly queer are gone as soon as somebody manages to figure out standing to kick a case up to SCOTUS.

I really don't think anybody understands how precarious things are. Post 2024, things are going to get very, very bad faster than anyone really understands.

Glenn Fleishman Feb 17, 2023

@mav I would look further back for context and also the incredible backlash to knocking out Roe v that led to the historic failure of the GOP to have enormous midterms gains. There's a pattern! I have hope in the face of terrible setbacks not to be a pollyanna but because *most* people in America *mostly* want things a minority (< 50%, often < 30%) are fighting for. They lose in the long run; the short run sucks.

@glennf I fail to understand why anyone would count 22 as a win. A draw at best. We stalled the GOP for another two years. They're definitely gonna sweep in 24. The economy sucks and it isn't going to get any better ... well, in my lifetime, so the Dems are super screwed.

> *most* people in America *mostly* want things a minority (< 50%, often < 30%) are fighting for.

We see this kind of thing over and over and over but you know what never happens? That 50% never votes. They don't show up to hold their state and local governments accountable. So that or 70% or whatever that answers surveys is _pointless._

In point of fact, there has been almost no social change in law at the federal level in the last 50 years. Every significant piece of social change that happened post-Civil Rights Act was because SCOTUS did it, and not only did the current court undo probably the most significant piece of social legislation in the last 100 years, but they promised to undo basically all of them.

What do we do about this? I genuinely don't know. More worried about the literal survival of my family and friends at this point.

oh and we're also living through a global pandemic that most of the world has completely stopped giving a damn about

I'll shut up now, life is so depressing.

anothercultland Feb 17, 2023

@glennf hear hear 👏👏👏

Parker Molloy Feb 17, 2023

@glennf I'm honestly just most afraid that people will eventually just give up fighting for us

Glenn Fleishman Feb 17, 2023

@parkermolloy There's no giving up. And "you" are "us.” I'm not at liberty to disclose how many of my close family members are affected—not all are out or fully public, etc. I don't think I'm alone in being someone for whom a more general "they" became "us" during the pandemic?

Josh Raub Feb 17, 2023

@glennf @parkermolloy +1 We’re not giving up. Ever. Every day I go to work and ever day I fight. It’s taken a year, but I was able to successfully change the polciy and technology of how our school stores names and gender in our database. That database determines what appears on class lists, report cards, what is sent to other institutions, etc. And there’s still so much more to do. This is a marathon, not a sprint.

Parker Molloy Feb 17, 2023

@glennf For instance, there was like... a day where people were like, "Trump banned trans people from the military? That's wrong!" and then pretty much the entire country stopped caring about that topic while Trump implemented his ban. And when I'd mention something about trans issues online, a good chunk of the liberals in the replies would insist that it was a "distraction," etc.

And I just worry that people will give up, and we can't do it alone.

Ipstenu (Mika E.) 🏳️‍🌈Feb 17, 2023

@parkermolloy @glennf It’s hard for some to maintain the near constant rage these days. My regional news covers the shit with the terfs but not what’s going on in Ohio. Texas lost power and heat again in a storm but that fell out of the news fast as well.

I’m sure this is a right wing ploy to overload everyone’s empathy.

Gary E. Walker Feb 17, 2023

@parkermolloy @glennf I mean you are right to worry. My wife is immunocompromised and I am increasingly convinced that we (Americans) don’t actually care about other people. FWIW we will not give you up either.

Glenn Fleishman Feb 17, 2023

@parkermolloy I think we have to keep talking about the problem with “liberals” and “progressives” who keep allying themselves with the right. Not just TERFs, but all sorts. You know! And Twitter/Mastodon isn't real life. I know polls are imperfect, but they better than replies.

BurningSkies Feb 17, 2023

@glennf The death throes are always the most dangerous part. The beast knows it's dying and doesn't want to go easily.