Insularity

Insularity: ignorance of or lack of interest in cultures, ideas, or peoples outside one's own experience.

 

I like to occasionally read The Ringer, the Bill Simmons founded website featuring sports and pop culture.  I particularly like the sports coverage, find the pop culture stories sometimes interesting.  The Ringer every once in a while carries articles on politics which inevitably are Progressive-oriented, unable to fathom why anyone not a racist is not a Progressive, and exhibiting an invincible ignorance of basic facts and history.  I now know to avoid reading the overtly political articles but those attitudes can creep into their other posts.

A few days ago The Ringer ran a piece by Matthew Sigur on Chris Stapleton's new album, Starting Over.  I like Stapleton's music, read the article and came across this passage:

He’s no politician, and he doesn’t have all the answers. However, when asked about topics like gun violence, lack of care for U.S. veterans, or supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, Stapleton won’t back down from his beliefs.

“I’m for love, kindness, equality, being good to good people,” he says. “Some things don’t register to me if it’s against humanity.”

What is that supposed to be telling me?  I think in the context of the first paragraph, Sigur is signaling that Stapleton is on the right side of social justice and wokeness.  But look again at the quote from Stapleton and you can read it as merely asserting truisms that most people believe.  I certainly support love, kindness, equality and being good to good people, - it's how I try to live my life - but if you read this blog you know what I also think about social justice and wokeness.

Let's look more closely at that first paragraph, to what Sigur considers "topics".

The first is "gun violence" which is more a slogan than a topic.  I'm against violence in civilian life unless it is in self-defense.  I think most people are, regardless of their views about the "gun violence" or the Second Amendment.  I gather "gun violence" are Progressive code words for a grab bag of government actions they advocate but in and of itself the phrase is empty of substantive content.

"Lack of care for U.S. veterans".  All those in support of lack of care for veterans, please raise your hands.  I thought so.

And now we come to "supporting the Black Lives Matter movement".  That's where Stapleton's brilliant response comes into play.  It looks like Sigur takes it as supporting BLM.  But BLM explicitly opposes equality as well as love and kindness outside of a specific racial context, and denies our common humanity.  My guess is that Sigur, like many liberals or Progressives who don't pay close attention to substance, does not understand this about BLM.  I read Stapleton's response as very clever at not saying anything controversial.

What is most illuminating is that Sigur thinks believing in love, kindness, equality and being good to good people are characteristics exclusively of those on the Left.

That got me thinking of something else that's been bugging me.  On our recent two month trip back East we saw a lot of lawn signs like this:

“IN THIS HOUSE, WE BELIEVE: BLACK LIVES MATTER / WOMEN’S RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS / NO HUMAN IS ILLEGAL / SCIENCE IS REAL / LOVE IS LOVE / KINDNESS IS EVERYTHING”

They are often accompanied by Hate Has No Home Here and Biden/Harris signs.

But I was left scratching my head.  It appeared to be signaling that the posters were claiming something in defiance of the ignorant and bigoted types who don't believe.  But what the heck do these slogans mean? 

I think there are few people who don't think that Black Lives Matter, but I would ask those with the signs, if someone says, "All Lives Matter" should they be fired from their job, told to shut up, or be considered racist?  And do the posters actually support the entire platform of the Black Lives Matter organization which endorses, among other things, elimination of the nuclear family?

"Women's Rights Are Human Rights".  I believe in equality under the law but what, specifically is this supposed to mean?  As it stands it's just a meaningless statement.

"No Human Is Illegal".  Huh?  Is this an awkward way of saying they support open borders?  Do they believe humans can commit illegal acts? 

"Science Is Real".  Now there's a really controversial statement!  Having read enough Progressive tropes on this subject they think this is a shot at the ignorant non-Progressives who they think don't believe in science.  But even Progressives don't actually believe that slogan.  Ideologues like science that supports their views and dislikes science that does not and that's true across the political spectrum.  Doubt it?  Have a discussion with a Progressive about evolutionary biology and you'll be called transphobic or sexist, they'll go after your job, and try to deplatform you.  The people most likely to employ this slogan actually don't really know the science involved at any depth beyond sloganeering.  Want to talk the science, technology and data on climate change?  That's a topic I know a lot about and most of those who recite "Science is real" don't - just ask them some questions; trust me.

But there is a bigger problem with "Science is Real".  Those using the slogan also like to assert they will "follow the science" (see, for instance, Joe Biden and Andrew Cuomo), with the pretense that science can provide the solution to complicated societal issues without political input.  But while science can inform us, it does not dictate solutions in a political context - those solutions depend on the values we bring to the decision making.  Take Covid.  What are the types of expertise you need to decide what is the best course for a society?  It is not exclusively public health experts; it's why there is such discussion and disagreement about the true costs of lockdowns.  Are we just trying to prevent, or delay, or end the diseases?  What are the costs of each strategy in doing so?  Moreover, as we've seen with Covid, even public health experts do not agree, there is actually no such thing as one certain thing the science tells us. And let's look at the track record here - public health experts opposed travel bans, told us for two months that non-medical personnel wearing masks was stupid and useless, banned private efforts to develop Covid tests, saying "we've got this", and more recently told us that a Covid immunity shield descended on those demonstrating and rioting in favor of causes supported by public health officials.

Science is important.  I'm an analytical type and don't like it when Left or Right jumps right over analysis to advocacy.  More worrying is seeing more and more scientists doing the same.  A final example - science can tell us, and has told us, a lot more in recent years about fetuses but it can only inform, not answer, the moral questions and competing values around abortion.  

"Love Is Love".  I'm on board for that!  Though I suspect there is a secret decoder ring subtext I am missing.

"Kindness Is Everything".  That's a demonstrably false statement.  This is something way beyond generally taking an approach of kindness or, as Chris Stapleton put it, "being good to good people". It's actually quite simpleminded if taken literally and I am confident if you probe poster attitudes on political topics you'll find they don't believe it either.  And you can't support the goals of the Black Lives Matter organization and also believe "kindness is everything".

In the instances described above we see insularity in action.  Progressive sloganeering that actually doesn't make much sense deployed against non-Progressive strawmen that exist in their minds, but not in real life.

As for me, I'll roll with this lawn sign: