Making what is "bad" not bad?

[Reaganfan]

I think I've unlocked the secret of what liberals seem to be up to in America. They are trying to take things considered "bad" and make them seem okay.

For example, drugs. Growing up in a post-Reagan America with things such as "Just Say No" and "D.A.R.E." and films and TV shows showing how bad drugs were and how they could only lead to trouble, liberals often complain that so many people are in prison due to drugs. So instead of trying to stop drug use and enforce against it, they want to make it so that the bad thing people are doing is actually legal.

The recent Trayvon Martin shooting and Michael Brown situation ongoing are more examples. Many people began mentioning how hoodies are associated with a "thug" culture. This is true. Hoodies, baggy pants, ect. So instead of thinking, "Gee maybe we shouldn't wear these things so associated with negative culture" what do liberals do? They show "solidarity" by wearing the hoodies.

Basically it's like the bad stuff makes people realize they're not behaving and are becoming socially undesired by society so instead of changing, they are embracing the bad. It's the same as the analogy of saying, "There are so many murderers in jail, so let's make murder not be a crime anymore so that those people won't be shunned or looked down upon or feel shame, ect ect."

I think it's a terrifying road to go down.

[Reaganfan]

I just got insulted by a guy from a state where their biggest city elected a crack smoking Mayor and another guy whose country got invaded in six hours.

[Reaganfan]

I just got insulted by a guy from a state where their biggest city elected a crack smoking Mayor and another guy whose country got invaded in six hours.

Neither of these are factually accurate.

What made your politics change, Joe? One minute you were a blue avatared GWB supporter, now you're a red avatared cynic.

[Reaganfan]

GWB supporter?  Don't ever insult me like that again.

And the blue avatar was strictly a representation of my temporarily registering with your party so I could be a tourist at their hilarious amateur hour clusterf[Inks] of the 2012 NV caucuses.

My apologies. Maybe you had a green avatar. I'm trying to remember.

[Reaganfan]

How about you stop pontificating about nothing and talk to some real human beings. Have you ever met a black person in your life?

Don't ask stupid questions.

The city I lived in until recently was 1.2% African American at the 2010 Census. The new city I live in is around 10%.

The city I was born in that we moved away from in 1992 due to the ever growing crime rate is 35.7% black. Population and business has plummeted as well.

[Reaganfan]

The fact that you answered me in the way you did is very telling.

Telling of what?

[Reaganfan]

Today I learned that we should criminalize drug use because its not good for you, and that wearing certain clothes should be looked down upon by society because of stereotypes and a possible "thug culture". And by doing these things is like letting violent criminals out of jail. Thanks for the lesson, Reaganfan!

No my point was to say that liberals seem more concerned about the emotions of guilty parties than the actual things those people are guilty of.

[Reaganfan]

Today I learned that we should criminalize drug use because its not good for you, and that wearing certain clothes should be looked down upon by society because of stereotypes and a possible "thug culture". And by doing these things is like letting violent criminals out of jail. Thanks for the lesson, Reaganfan!

No my point was to say that liberals seem more concerned about the emotions of guilty parties than the actual things those people are guilty of.

Personally, I don't care about their emotions as much as not wanting to ruin their lives by sending them to jail at my expense, after which it'll be much harder for them to get a job (as if the never-ending sea of regulations and licensing requirements didn't make that hard enough), and they're likely to end up on welfare (again at my expense).

Point well taken. I believe we need massive lessening of rules and regulations at businesses. Of course, that conflicts with my views on business owners having the freedom to run their businesses the way they see fit.

[Reaganfan]

Today I learned that we should criminalize drug use because its not good for you, and that wearing certain clothes should be looked down upon by society because of stereotypes and a possible "thug culture". And by doing these things is like letting violent criminals out of jail. Thanks for the lesson, Reaganfan!

No my point was to say that liberals seem more concerned about the emotions of guilty parties than the actual things those people are guilty of.

What are people who wear hoodies and baggy pants guilty of?

They are guilty of causing more harm than good. If you know something will cause you to stand out in a negative context...why do it?

[Reaganfan]

I think I've unlocked the secret of what liberals seem to be up to in America. They are trying to take things considered "bad" and make them seem okay.

For example, drugs. Growing up in a post-Reagan America with things such as "Just Say No" and "D.A.R.E." and films and TV shows showing how bad drugs were and how they could only lead to trouble, liberals often complain that so many people are in prison due to drugs. So instead of trying to stop drug use and enforce against it, they want to make it so that the bad thing people are doing is actually legal.

The recent Trayvon Martin shooting and Michael Brown situation ongoing are more examples. Many people began mentioning how hoodies are associated with a "thug" culture. This is true. Hoodies, baggy pants, ect. So instead of thinking, "Gee maybe we shouldn't wear these things so associated with negative culture" what do liberals do? They show "solidarity" by wearing the hoodies.

Basically it's like the bad stuff makes people realize they're not behaving and are becoming socially undesired by society so instead of changing, they are embracing the bad. It's the same as the analogy of saying, "There are so many murderers in jail, so let's make murder not be a crime anymore so that those people won't be shunned or looked down upon or feel shame, ect ect."

I think it's a terrifying road to go down.

Your post sounds like it's straight out of 1994 when people would actually buy into this authoritarianism. Sounds like my high school right after the 'Footloose' era.

I don't know what you're talking about. 2014 is nothing like 1994. It's not like Full House will be on TV or Dumb and Dumber in theaters. Or the Republicans might win back the Senate.

[Reaganfan]

The crazy thing about this is that Reaganfan laments a time that never existed, one that only exists in the nostaglia of the bitter. There were more murders under Reagan, more homelessness, a crack cocaine epidemic, more teen pregnancies.  The morning in America motif was all a rhetorical device. 

Simply put, the Reaganfans of the world would rather condemn "bad" people than get people the help that they need. Theyve built a poweful American myth that everyone can simply pull themselves up out of the more by their bootstraps and get ahead. This is simply not true. Real Christianity and a moral policy calls for providing a boost when our society fails. 

It is the hypocrisy of it all that gets to me. The Reaganfan archtype lament the social ills of our society out of one corner of the mouth, while cutting programs that actually help in the other- in the name of fiscal responsibility of course.  If you are ok with that fine, but don't pretend that you actually care. 

Okay, I'll concede that these things shouldn't be vilified, if you will concede they shouldn't be happily justified.

[Reaganfan]

The myth of "pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps" is especially strange, considering the saying itself originated in the 19th century as a way to describe an impossible task yet in the late 20th century it morphed into something that is supposedly very possible.

Considering the vast Government aid programs created under President Roosevelt, it became much more possible, IMO.