Post #2512677

The map hasn't been painted Peter Teal yet, but Reform has got a foothold in many, predominantly poorer and conservative, areas of the country. When I think about this, I think about someone I lived with. A bold and caring man, an ardent socialist, a creative musician. When he moved out we had a conversation together, about how he used to be a tory. He used to believe that, if he worked hard enough, he could make it out of his poor existence and win at life. This idea is all too widespread because it's a palliative to the misery of the working class. He used to listen to Ben Shapiro and other right-wing pundits, saying increasingly deranged things, until his friends patiently worked through the ideas with him, and he realised he was being misled. I think that a critical mass of Reform voters are like how he used to be, fooled by both the mythos of the rich and the media's caricature of the rising communist movement, especially when our inexperience stands out in bold relief. Empathy and critical thought, when paired together, are a powerful weapon that empire fears. Hence their desire to stamp them out in their readership. A lie can get around the world before the truth can tie its laces, but the truth has roots everywhere. Lies corrupt fruit from the tree of truth because they need the appearance of truth's sustenance to be swallowed. The truth is that the liberal status quo was a swindle at the expense of the working class, the areas we call home are decaying, and the attempts to restore liberalism accelerate this decay. That the oppressed are like you. The lie that corrupts this is that immigrants, queers, and minorities are somehow to blame, while the CEO, the politician, and the landlord are just like you. That geopolitics is a zero-sum game of tears, and raw dominance is heroic. That this is somehow common sense, and those who aim to end this abominable system of oppression secretly want to put their guys on top instead. "Trust us, we have your back. Now stop thinking and get back to work."