“Basket of Deplorables.” It’s a pretty jejune insult yet it entered the lexicon as a mantra on both left and right–the left as the insult it was meant to be, and the right as a rallying cry (which it was also likely meant to be.) Although I’m not a MAGA gal nor a Republican nor a neo-con nor even a trad-con, I’m a deplorable. Why? Because the basket of deplorables is big and diverse. Plenty of room in the basket for anyone who does not follow the script on the left. Pick and choose–are you double-boosted or do you eschew prophylactic gene therapy? Do you believe in God? Aliens? Both? No matter. All individuals are welcome. On the other side, however, is a body of notions that come as a piece and, living in LA, I’m pretty familiar with the program: “I’m a communist!” “Hands off my body!” “Go vegan!” “Save the planet!” “Vax! or kill grandma!” “Ban guns!” Problem is, guilt and judgmentalism, vax pressure and unrestricted abortion, communism and pharma-fascism, are not positions that form a cohesive body of values based on a particular view of human nature or a functional society that could arise therefrom. It appears to me that this shopping list of views-that-must-be-held are handed down from on high & need to be checked and double-checked lest you find yourself on the wrong side of an issue without realizing it. As for me and many in the basket of deplorables, I have a worldview–one that becomes more refined and, I hope, more accurate as my experiences grow–but it’s a worldview that I base on certain principles: man has free will, reason, and the ability to discern right from wrong; man has rights that arise from these capacities; one man is not permitted to impose his will on others unless violating someone else’s rights; our nation was founded on these principles; etc. I can usually arrive at an assessment of an issue by consulting these principles with my faculty of reason…Abortion-on-demand, communism & big-pharma/govt “vaccine” programs living in one basket? That body of beliefs has to be handed down and accepted without scrutiny–sans reason–as far as I can tell. To be in that basket, rationality does not apply.
*My sincere apologies to anyone of principle who feels I am labeling the Basket of Irrationals unjustly–but please enunciate for me the underlying principles that give rise to this system.
Well said. And ditto.