Aaron Ross Powell ☸️Feb 20, 2023
The whole national divorce thing is pretty stupid, and while most of the people arguing for it are right-wingers mad that most of us think it’s wrong to hate trans people, the fact that our electoral map is broken up by states, which are then colored either solid red or solid blue, tricks even some reasonable people into thinking it makes sense. When in reality, this is what the country looks like, making clear there are basically no red or blue states.
Show threadCarrieFeb 20, 2023
@arossp I wish I had a dollar for every time a self proclaimed leftist or liberal suggested we just throw “red states” to the wolves by splitting up the union. It’s always fun to learn how many people who proclaim to be compassionate and anti-racist are actually willing to throw away Black people and poor people and disabled people because they live in states ruled by cruel people.
Show threadSuzanne PaleyFeb 20, 2023

@WeShall @arossp There's so much wishful thinking on both sides that if we can just wall ourselves off from those others, then suddenly it's not our problem anymore. Like if you're "pro-life" and believe that we have a God-given duty to save all those unborn children, do all those unborn children suddenly become expendable once they're separated by a political border? If you believe that black people and queer people are entitled to the same rights and access to justice as everyone else, why should that stop being the case if they suddenly become part of a different country?

I mean, we see this already with how we view problems in our own country vs problems in other countries, but in this case, the people aren't changing, just the political border!

It's similar to how I get annoyed when my husband talks about moving to some other country if things get bad enough here -- I mean, we're privileged, we'll do fine either way, but how will us leaving help the situation in any way?

Show threadCarrieFeb 21, 2023
@smpaley @arossp Exactly. It’s a very simplistic thing to say “let the red states fend for themselves” as if that wouldn’t be condemning millions of people to death. Never mind the sense of privilege people who say things like that must possess… as if they are solely responsible for living in a supposed “blue state.” I just can’t take anyone seriously who is advocating such silliness (regardless of their political affiliation).
Show threadAaron Ross Powell ☸️Feb 21, 2023
@WeShall @smpaley While I agree that the red states would suffer significant economic consequences, and the whole thing is a dumb idea to start with, it would not condemn millions of people to death.
Show threadCarrie
@arossp @smpaley How many poor disabled people are on Medicaid in red states?
Feb 21, 2023 at 12:39amWeb
Show threadCarrieFeb 21, 2023
@arossp @smpaley How many rely on SSI to survive? There are millions of people in red states who rely on federal money to simply survive. Without federal money, poor, disabled, and elderly people in red states would be without food and housing and healthcare.
Show threadCarrieFeb 21, 2023
@arossp @smpaley Nevermind the collapse of healthcare infrastructure that would occur without federal funding.