so many of you think people with literacy issues or an innate inability to understand profound discussions are the face of the "anti-intellectualism movement" but so many self-proclaimed intellectuals are actually the ones to blame.
you're so mad at the world, and understandably so. but you push these all or nothing, black and white mindsets and contribute so much to discourse, generating one bad-faith argument after another to find some sense of control and superiority so you don't feel like you lack autonomy as capitalism decays around us. you actively turn people against each other, try to make others feel smaller, and feign martyr while being a fucking bully.
you lack critical thinking skills because you choose to ignore every argument that doesn't support yours, not understanding that to have a full rounded view, you have to be well-versed on EVERY side of the issue at hand. you're killing yourselves faster than your opposition ever could, because you refuse to look inwards. you think you're an ally, but you always want to find someone to persecute in the name of your cause. you don't realize you often end up alienating the very people you claim to support, AND you turn others against them by acting this way.
if you don't shut the fuck up and look in the mirror for a while, sit down and really ask yourself what it is you believe and if your actions line up with it, and get off social media for a little bit; you're honestly fucked, i'm sorry. you cannot live in an echo chamber of your own beliefs, while they slowly get more and more radicalized due to the algorithm's manipulation, and still remain helpful to your cause. you can't shut down every time you're uncomfortable, you have to find a way through that. sometimes that means taking a step back for a while so you can work through what's really working you up. but this is untenable.
what's sad to me is so many of you will read this and think, "this is true about everyone but me!" and continue to fuck yourselves and your cause. i'm begging you to take an honest look at yourself, and not be mean about it either. there can be ambiguity. you can look at yourself and say, "i've been wrong, but i meant to do the right thing. i can change, and i don't have to punish myself for it."
you need to learn the ability to have a civil discussion, rather than escalating it into an argument every time. not every person is out to get you, some people really are grossly misinformed. i've genuinely changed people's minds, meeting them openly and respectfully. you want class consciousness and for the middle class to be a united front? you have to understand so much of the middle class is underprivileged, overworked, uneducated, unable to spend 12 hours a day researching when they wouldn't even know where to begin. "everyone has access to a computer," is actually not true! and not everyone even has the understanding of how bad things truly are! it's not inherently malicious to be ignorant. knowledge, and the ability to apply said knowledge, are privileges. ignorance absolutely can be a privilege, too. but it's not always some rich white debutant, living without a care. some people don't even realize they're oppressed, and they spend their lives blaming themselves. don't tell me you care about class consciousness, if you don't care for the majority of the working class that presents a challenge to you. it's extremely classist to decide their lives are secondary to yours. i don't think the majority of the left (NOT just liberals) realizes that it's a mirror image of the right, just using different language.
i'm not saying this to feel better than anyone. i'm saying this because that was me at one point, and i had no idea. and it crushed me to realize my self-centered anger was crushing the very causes i'm passionate about. i really hope this actually reaches somebody, but i don't know that it will.
