Keep it simple, don’t be stupid
Some things feel almost dumb to write down.
Which is maybe why all week I have seen article after article after post after take festooning the obvious with context. Nuance, theory, history, data — all great for understanding how other people come to their beliefs and not at all necessary for figuring out your own.
You already know the state can’t be allowed to kick people out.
It feels dorky to talk about morals, like a youth pastor with a guitar. Intellectuals argue with all of the facts at the ready. But when you find yourself digging into the fine print of immigration status and disturbance ordinances, what argument are you actually having?
Morals are simple, and inconvenient. We don’t get to talk ourselves out of them, or decide when they apply, or choose who benefits. They don’t care about the details because the details don’t change them. Arguing over the difference between a green card and a visa implies that there’s some circumstance where it’s OK for the state to separate a family. Discussing the Alien and Sedition Acts* accepts that there is an “us” and a “them” where one side writes the rules. Pointing out that Mahmoud Khalil is just one man devalues the individual, and all of us by extension.
We can’t fight every fight. We have to fight the one: Is it right, or is it wrong? Is it OK for the government to disappear people? Is it all right for someone else to make decisions about your body? Should anyone have more than they need until everyone has what they need?
The Right benefits from boogeymen: student protesters and trans athletes and welfare cheats. They want us to carve people out and append caveats to our morals. And just like Charlie Brown, we keep doing it, hoping this concession will be the one that sticks and still missing the ball.
So instead of amassing all the details and preparing for a good-faith argument that’s never going to come, ask yourself: Is it right? You know the answer, and so do they. No one feels smart screaming “That’s not fair!” It’s childish. But if it sounds like the start of a temper tantrum, maybe it’s because we should all be kicking our feet.
Some Links
The thing about thinking maybe if we just stop protecting these 10 people, or take a “hard line” on this issue is that we have tried it? It is literally all we have ever tried? Even the trans legislator is out here trying to talk about grocery store prices instead of pronouns? Why not roll the dice on what’s right for a change?
You really want to test those morals? Well here’s your chance, because the TSA union just had its contract tossed out for literally no reason other than Republicans didn’t want to honor it. You can let the government change the rules of play on a whim, or you can stand with the people who yell at you while your shoes are off. All of us or none of us.
Really, seriously, Amazon is already using AI to fight unionization. They have the money, the tools and the power. We have each other, and we have to start acting like it.
The guy famous for taking something tangible and profitable (commercial real estate) and turning it into something overhyped and bankrupt (WeWork) is now getting into publishing. Sorry Adam Neumann, but you’re late on this one. I’ve been taking valuable journalism and turning it into useless newsletters for more than 15 years.
Keep messing with their money, it makes them act like the sweaty estranged fathers they actually are, desperate to get your approval.
And here are 30 more things you can do. Scroll to the bottom for our new national anthem.
*Also, and I know it does not matter, but I literally can’t not say it: Even in 1798 everyone knew the Alien and Sedition Acts were wrong, John Adams was a disappointment to his wife and the country. In the 20th century it has literally only been used to justify concentration camps. You have to wade through layers of evil to get to those laws as a justification. It’s like an evil egg, with the presidency at its orange center.