And once again it has begun: the pleas to “stop exposing yourself to danger,” the queries about “why do you let ‘them’ do that to you,” and the insistence that “you can’t seriously mean [what I said about myself.]”
My sincere thanks to those of you who are concerned for my well-being, but really, I’m just dandy. Well, as dandy as a 64-year-old man with a needy Newf, a dead lawn, books that refuse to write themselves, and a wife who refuses to leave Long Island can be, at least. To the others: Yes, I was and am serious. I really, truly am:
- A racist;
- A sexist;
- A lookist;
- An ableist;
- A homophobe;
- An Islamophobe;
...and whatever other vile epithets any leftist might decide to hurl at me. Because it occurred to me in a moment of unusual lucidity – May God forever bless and keep thee, thou noble vintners of Harvey’s of Jerez, Spain – that all those slanders really mean exactly the same thing:
Which is true: I do. Unconditionally and absolutely, now and forever. “But why trumpet it to your enemies?” my correspondents cry. “Why not live quietly, rather than giving them a target?”
Because of the “Safe Space” movement.
There seems no end to the “safe space” BS. Young men and women – nominal adults presumed competent to fend for themselves at need – have been demanding “safe spaces” wherein no sentiment with which they disagree will be voiced. We’ve received “safe space” demands from:
- Women,
- Negroes,
- Homosexuals,
- Bisexuals,
- Every sort of Leftist,
- People who dislike Donald Trump,
...and in all probability, dozens more lunacy-sects I haven’t heard of. But to the best of my knowledge, there’ve been no “safe space” demands from:
- Christians,
- White people,
- Gun-rights advocates,
- Conservatives and libertarians,
- Advocates of freedom of expression,
- Persons who think homosexuality is disgusting,
- Persons who believe courtesy to be a social requirement,
- Persons who simply refuse to be catechized by humorless scolds.
So crying a brace of needs should not go unaddressed. So, being the sort that likes to do things himself, I created one: Liberty’s Torch. And to make it as plain as possible that Leftist scolds will not be allowed through the gates, I’ve characterized myself as everything they hate.
It seems to be working.
Mind you, there are always costs. The major cost is that someone among the scolds might have a well-reasoned argument for his position that “deserves” space here. He’s welcome to make it...somewhere else. He can email me to point me to it. I’ll give it the respect it deserves but not an iota more, so he should review his work closely before soliciting my attention.
I simply won’t allow anyone to tell me what I may and may not say. As I won’t go to places where my opinions aren’t permitted – “Don’t go where you’re not wanted” is one of my personal guidelines, just after the Ten Commandments – I consider it vital that I, and others with similarly untamed tongues, should have a place of our own. This is it.
“Hard livin’s my pleasure,
My money’s my own,
And them as don’t like me,
Can leave me alone.”(Author unknown.)
While I agree with your point I strongly disagree in allowing others to label me. For example the any sort of -phobe term. I stridently point out the definition of a phobia - an irrational fear. The term 'homophobia' is used against those who disagree with the homosexual lifestyle. Disagreement is not hate and it is certainly not a phobia. 'Islamophobia' is even more disingenuous. It is actually quite rational to fear those whose stated goal is your destruction. Failure to fear and take steps to protect yourself from anyone whose stated goal is to see your destruction is the true mental defect.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually in agreement with a lot of this. I, for instance, won't go to a certain club here locally that primarily caters to "bears" (extremely masculine gay men) and has been known to have issues in the past with trans women (and even cis women). Of course, just as they don't particularly care for me, I'm not their target market, either, so they're welcome to it.
ReplyDeleteIf someone's not engaged in active hostility to me, they can think whatever they please, and it's unlikely that it'll affect me. If some people persist in misgendering me or denying my identity, I'm not likely to want to be around those people. Thankfully, most people seem to be either accepting, polite enough not to make an issue of it, or simply don't care one way or another.
The main thing I do is try to educate people, for it's my longstanding belief that the more people know people like me, and have some idea of what we go through and how we came to find ourselves, the fewer people will hate and fear us.