it’s actually wild how terrified of the general public most usamericans are. like you don’t realize it if you’re someone who mostly walks and takes transit and spends a lot of time in populous public spaces but then you talk to one of the thousands of people that seemingly never set foot in any public space besides a parking garage or a starbucks and you suddenly understand why it’s so easy for fascist rhetoric about the dangerous alien to take root. this country’s median voter pretty much never interacts with strangers who aren’t their coworkers or people they met on dating apps
saw a post on instagram that was literally someone citing statistics saying public transit is one of the safest travel options out there and the comments were literally just “ummmmm op this is so ableist and misogynistic of you :) don’t you know the average public transit user is a dangerous violent criminal who wants to set you on fire :)))”
it must be so terrifying and sad to go through life convinced if you set foot outside your car in public or interact with people outside your nuclear family you’ll instantly be raped and robbed by the Evil Poors no wonder so many of these people are reactionary tar pits
Eternally relevant read is True Crime is Rotting Our Brains by Emma Berquist, a woman who actually experienced a (rare!) stranger-attack while just walking outside, and thinks that people who panic about this shit need to chill the fuck ouuuuuutt and also recognize how much they're using it to launder their bigotries
Edit: I've attempted to add this link at least three times and Tumblr is being stubborn, so let me try posting it on its own:
Emma Berquist
not just true crime but the news is in on it too, especially local and right wing but not exclusively.
