Written by RC Romine

There is a distinct dichotomy at work when the Cons and Regressives talk about freedoms. There are “their” freedoms and a distinctly different version for those they see as the “others”. By the way, you and I are included in the second category. But how does it all work and who makes those decisions? We all grew up in the “Abuse Culture” of America and probably had no idea about it. “We are just defending ourselves” is and was the rallying cry of that culture. But in truth, it was there to make money through abuse. That is the real reason they hate unions because they hate sharing power. That is the real reason they hate a real and free education because they fear “Independent and thinking “people. That is why they hate “socialism” or any kind of organized and especially “leveling of society” help. For the Cons and the Regressives, “Their” freedom is the freedom to abuse others without recourse. That was what “Segregation” was all about and they want it back.
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From the time we are in middle school a “Pecking “order of begins to be built. Those that exhibit societal norms are physically attractive, good athletes or have wealthy and powerful parents do well, everybody else becomes a kind of cannon fodder for the “In-Crowd.” It can be something as petty as owning the “right ” clothes, being popular for one reason or another, being physically powerful because you have been “held back” a few times. But about this time it becomes “Us and Them.” Social pressure becomes one of conformity or abuse. There is intense social and sometimes physical pressure to conform to the group. Individuality can result in a group beating by the enforcers of the norm. The teachers just stand by, even though they may try to intervene, the group norm is enforced. Welcome to the abuse culture!

The truth is, it never really changes. Some traits will never be accepted into the norm. Black skin, weighing too much, being poor, or having a deformity of some kind will never be accepted into the norm. Women have their own challenging course to fight their way through. But always there is a single constant, the norm, its enforcement, and the pecking order that comes with it. By high school, it is set in and the norm. That is what is reflected within our society, the pecking order. But once you’re out of high school the criteria does change. Then it becomes the right car parked in front of the right mansion, in the right neighborhood, the trophy wife or husband, and the perfect kids to reflect your perfection. The perfection of the norm.
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Again it is easy to see how it all works, the norm, whether it is extreme, such as rape or oppression, physical violence in defense of the norm is always defended by those that in some way benefit from it. The Cons and Regressives see themselves as defending the norm and therefore are given “Special” freedoms, to do so. They are patriotic, they are righteous and they are always right, in their eyes. But in truth, they defend an abuse culture that lives on the oppression and exploitation of those they see as the “Others.” That is also why they hate logic and truth because if they admit what they are actually doing then THEY are the bad guys. And that is something they can never admit to.
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You may see the “Stonewalling lie” where you never admit the truth as something new. But it’s not. We have been doing that as a culture for hundreds of years. We could never admit that segregation was authoritarianism, very much akin to Nazism, but it was. We could never admit that our democracy was incredibly limited and run by the rich, but for decades it was and now is again. We could never admit that our education system was little more than a training ground for conforming, but it was and is. Freedoms are only real if you play their game. And this is why all of the restrictive laws are coming about in “Red” states. It’s the old high school pecking order in action, just enforced by people with guns and cars with spinning lights on them. We can become so much more! But if you notice the real purpose of the norms and pecking order is to make sure that we don’t. That we don’t surpass those that enforce and benefit from those norms.
RC Romine