Do you really wanna know why MAGA people hate Dems?
Leave your ego at the doors, ladies and germs
In my Science Gen Ed, Foresty, where I giggled like a moron as I whispered “Penis Strokus” instead of “Pinus Stobus” for the latin nomenclature for Pine Tree, I was the dick who raised their hand and argued about the human cost of holding up logging operations for one owl. Couldn’t the owl fly to a different tree? It had wings, and people really needed those jobs. Contractors were contractually obligated to stay with the job — they couldn’t just move on. They didn’t get paid though, and bills for heavy equipment are astronomical, and STILL DUE.
As seemingly the only poor person in a sea of upper-middle class idiots, I understood that there was a family, sitting at home wondering if they’d be able to buy groceries, make equipment payments (in order to keep working), car payments (to keep working), and that the house was financed to pay for the equipment. The family was at risk of homelessness.
Everything we’d owned was tied to my father being able to work — he was a trucker. We never went to the doctor, the dentist, and birthdays and Christmas were pretty much gift-free. Once, I got a lamp, which was good, because I had no light in the bedroom I shared with my sister.
The reaction of the instructor and the class was hostile and rude. It was like I suggested setting the Amazon itself on fire for the hell of it. I’d leave class, face burning, and hustle off to my full-time job, and those students would head back to the gym, or bed, or wherever. Probably a sorority pillow mean-girls trauma-bonding sesh, or a frat to plan a gang-rape of their own pledges. Who knows what drama those spoiled morons invented in order to feel something?
Obviously, now, I understand about biodiversity, and the importance of the matrix and variety of species, how it’s all connected, with pivotal predator and prey relationships, and the beauty of it all. The senselessness and the painfulness of the tragedy and the loss of so many creatures on its face horrifies me now.
But no one said that — and firstly — no one gave a shit about me, my perspective, and honestly, my family shouldn’t have had to survive the way we did. I had two severe chronic medical conditions, deep infiltrating endometriosis and epilipsy, that resulted in my never having children and severe, life threatening injuries, because I never was diagnosed until I had health insurance in my 40’s.
I grew up surrounded by blue blooded Democrats who claim to be so loving and compassionate. It was clear we had less, much less then everyone around us. But, we weren’t helped. We were looked down on and mocked.
The moms in their Volvos would smile that tight, superior smile when we were around; the kids, with designer clothes, good haircuts (ours were done in the kitchen by my mother) literally threw garbage at me on the school bus, and said everywhere else, “Where you get that, from a bag at the Salvation Army?” in full hearing of adults who allowed it (Yes, we often got a trash bag of hand-me-downs from church); after Christmas break, everyone had thousands of dollars of new stuff, fabulous stuff, while we couldn’t afford a Christmas Tree; that was always really funny “So, did you guys even have a tree this year?! Ha ha ha!” and it never really ended.
It was clear that the adults were in on the joke, as the parents of the few houses we went to would get a chuckle as they confirmed details that the so-called friend had shared. Never, ever, did they offer some “gently used” non-poor people clothes or pretend they bought the wrong size for their kid, or include a Christmas gift for me. They even seemed happy when I’d get a lower grade than their child on a test. It was clear I had next to nothing, but they still wanted me to have a little less.
I was truly humiliated by my parents religious bullshit. My parents felt a mother should stay home and care for children, no matter how destitute the family. I had no choice in the matter. My parents physically abused me and would beat me unconscious if I did not comply with their church rigamarole, and you can only imagine what happened when I asked my mother why she didn’t go to work. Did anyone think to help with that either? Nope. Not even when I asked.
Every MAGA person has some version of the tight, silent, judgey progressive “let’s move away from the icky people of Walmart” smile. Whether it’s a positive — an unguarded surprise that they’re knowledgeable or proficient at something complex, or have sophisticated taste in a high-end interest, such as wine or sailing, or ‘you clean up nice’ when they’re not doing their not-fancy job, or a negative, such as a polite, distanced and unexplained disdain, we don’t fool anyone. “He’s a plumber, but you’d never know it!” Nice, guys. That’s not dickish at all.
I’m not sure if the horse can go back into the barn. My mother and brother are still MAGAs, and they are pissed. They rant about woke people and snowflakes. My brother is even moving to Texas on purpose.(That emphasis would really upset him, whereas when I read about Texas, it seems like it’s becoming a hellscape, like the Thunderdome). They don’t like me much. Honestly, I don’t enjoy them much.
I remember really wanting those stuck-up superior people to fall into puddles, or get splashed by cars while they tramped back to their privileged lives, or maybe even be poor for a bit.
It’s easy to think that we are nice, but how often do we focus on other people’s trappings of poverty and not see how fucking bad their life is? Why aren’t we moved to do one nice thing for someone yucky?
I wanted them to suffer a couple of months in my life, which was anxiety filled, work filled, and hard. I didn’t have many options, and neither did my family members. I imagined them, like me, doubting they could find a way out, because for all their talk of compassion, they truly weren’t very compassionate people at all. They were actually clueless and casually cruel. Consistently.
Edited: Thursday, November 4, 2021: To clarify something that seems to be confusing some readers, I have not been so embroiled with hate and rage that I devoted my life to literal Bible interpretation and owl-hatred, although I have loved the nuance and sophistication (and thoughtfulness) of so many commentators. Instead, I tried to help, and I:
- voted for healthcare reform each time it was on the ballot since registering to vote at age 18,
- am not a Republican (if that matters) or a Trump supporter,
- have been tested and certified by CMS to assist people as an agent of CMS and my state by being the Director of my county’s ADRC to advocate for and to find the lowest out-of-pocket cost public health plans for them that are publicly offered on the Marketplace (ACA plans), Medicaid Plans, apply for Medicare, the LIS subsidy, as well as Open Enrollment Part D and Medigap Plans.
