There Is No Moderates

Y’all, I think most won’t like what I got to say, but it needs said:

There is no such thing as a middle ground. There is no moderate in America.

You are either:

1. for genocide

OR

2. Not for genocide.

Republican party has thrown their lot in with number 1 to the point they are trying to explain a violent attempt to overthrow the government as a “tourist act.” They have shown no willingness to compromise in the past decade. They won’t compromise as it doesn’t serve their interests and the interests of capital. Stop trying to reason with them. It cannot be done unless it’s with your neighbor (maybe you can convince them to stop supporting a genocidal party but that’s up to you).

Democrats are split between 1 and 2 and it’s very hard to determine which are which until its too late. For those that it is easy to tell, mostly marginalized populations have been pointing these people out but cishet white folks are refusing to listen. This is a sad reality of the moderates who think that we can “talk” our way out of genocides. We can’t. Most democrats cannot be trusted.

We live in a two party system because of the corruption of ht electoral college, excessive gerrymandering in favor of Republicans, corrupt voting laws that restrict voting in favor of Republicans, and our First Past the Post voting system (it’s a terrible system, and we ought to switch to ranked voting or something similar to ranked voting which will allow multi-party systems).

That, however, does not mean we have no hope.

Mariame Kaba wrote in “We Do This ‘Til We Free Us” that “hope is a discipline.” And so we must discipline ourselves in hope. How do we do that?

By laying down boundaries to conserve our energy to what needs the most attention.

By asking our friends and family to CHOOSE A SIDE. There is no middle. The moderate is only complicit in those who serve genocide. Either we fight the fascist authoritarians engaging in genocides right and left or our silence and attempts at “negotiating” with them leaves us complicit.

By acknowledging that those who prefer genocide will engage in bad faith arguments in order to get you to step closer to their view of things, then they will move backward and engage in bad faith rhetoric to keep pulling you toward accepting genocide as “normal.”

Genocide is not normal. We should never accept it as necessary for our existence.

There is no reason in the universe as to why it is okay to sacrifice the lives of millions of disabled people, unvaccinated (regardless of their views), children, and babies in order to “reopen” the economy during a deadly pandemic that has a variant that is worse than the original virus.

There is no reason in the universe as to why we must continue to vilify and/or kill disabled people, argue we have no quality of life, place extreme amounts of red tape in front of any resources that could improve our quality of life, and limit our access to care. That’s a form of genocide, and yet these arguments against our existence are used for autistic people and those of us with chronic illness — it’s used for any disabled person who can’t be productive according to capitalist standards. We are denied a living wage, denied marriage equality, denied having more than $2000 in assets and so are trapped in forced poverty that kills many of us and makes it harder for us to access the care we need. We have a right to life just as much as any abled-bodied healthy person, and to not give us the resources and care we need is a form of genocide against disabled people — it’s eugenics.

There is no reason in the universe as to why anyone should be homeless, food insecure, or without clean water. We can and SHOULD BE housing everyone and providing food and water regardless of whether we “earned” it. It should be free as all three are necessary for survival. To argue otherwise is to fall prey to the arguments that people must “earn” their right to life, which is an argument in the genocide camp.

There is no reason in the universe as to why healthcare should be so expensive, so unattainable, and not free for all regardless. To argue otherwise is again to fall prey to the arguments of the genocide camp. Lack of access to affordable/free healthcare is killing people.

There is no reason in the universe as to why we must sacrifice clean water and the health of millions of marginalized communities (specifically Black and Indigenous communities) in order to extract more oil, create more pipelines (that spill and contaminate the land and our already shrinking access to fresh water), and increase greenhouse gases that warm the earth and is causing the climate catastrophe. The Climate catastrophe is why we have record high temperatures, record sea level rise, record devastating storms, record droughts, and it is a form of genocide to leave marginalized communities to die while those with capital have their own private firefighters and technology to keep their holdings safe.

There is no reason in the universe as to why we should restrict the right of LGBTQIA people, the rights of Black and Brown people, the rights of disabled people, the rights of Indigenous people — to argue otherwise is to use the arguments of the genocide camp. We all have a right to exist without fear and without retaliation, where we have access to what we need to be able to thrive.

There is no reason in the universe as to why we need police at all. Police were born from slave patrols and they protect capital and property not people. They have engaged in violent murders of Black and Brown people, Disabled people, Indigenous people, LGBTQIA people, and anyone who doesn’t fit a specific type of cishet white person. Studies have shown again and again that policing does not lower crime, it increases it, nor does it make our communities safer. Investing in our communities directly with better resources is what actually makes communities safer. To side with police is to use the arguments of the genocide camp.

Notice the history of the past century — when the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s was seeing success, government agencies started implementing a “war on drugs” which then proceeded to incarcerate and enslave as “prison labor” where they were paid pennies by the hour. This deadly practice and exploitation continues today. To side with the punitive justice system (and not for restorative or transformative justice abolition) is to fall prey to the arguments of the genocide camp.

There is no reason in the world to have stricter borders. Immigrants are people in need of safety and aid, and many have risked their lives to seek that. To turn them away is often to sentence them to death, and our current system vilifies specific groups of immigrants from specific countries, which is a genocidal practice. This callout of the harm done to immigrants includes border patrol and ICE who are genocidal in their deliberate attempts to provide the lowest quality of living that kill or permenantly harm immigrants who dare ask for refuge. Many are climate refugees or refugees from America’s imperialist campaigns, where America caused many a coup that cost the lives of millions all because of the needs of corporate profits and capital. To not take a stand for immigrants is to cede to the arguments of the genocide camp.

There is no reason in the world to continue to engage in seizure of land from Indigenous people, to continue to deprive them of necessities for life (many reservations have no access to clean water, hazardous waste sites are often placed by them, and services restricted and covered in excessive red tape), and forcing them into residential schools that caused a cultural genocide. Studies are now showing that Indigenous land practices are more sustainable, curb climate change, and have higher quality yields than conventional, polluted practices, and thus, it is imperative for humanity’s ability to survive that we give the stolen land back. These harmful practices against Indigenous lives are genocide and to not stand with them in their fights is to be complicit to the harms our governments have done to them. This includes their fight against the pipelines that destroy their land and livelihoods and pollute our world.

I’ve only covered a handful of crucial issues we must tackle in order to save as many lives as possible.

I am not interested in people’s “hot takes” about how we need to meet in the middle with those that promote genocidal practices. There is no way to negotiate with genocidal practices; to negotiate is to give their genocidal ideas legitimacy. To give their ideas legitmacy then gives them power and only aids their agenda to kill. It does not aid our attempts to stop their genocidal practices. So do not give them a platform. Do not give legitimacy to their ideas. Name them as genocidal and fight to end their hateful and deadly reign in any manner possible.

If we are to save the most lives, we must fight those who side with genocidal practices, those who side with side 1, those who side with Republicans, those who side with billionaires and capitalists — all of whom engage in exploitation, genocideal practices, and drive the horrors of climate disaster.

So choose a side.

Remember, as you read the news, as you read the books below and listen to the evidence: you can’t be a moderate in this day and age. There is no moderate in America. You are either assisting side 1 – those for genocide or you are standing against genocide with side 2.

Take a stand. Stop trying to negotiate with genocidal politicians who will gladly let you die if it means more profit for them.

I have a whole list of books that are filled with sources to back up their claims if you wish to learn more.

Thanks for reading.

Books and Authors to read for the research:

And many more. Feel free to add your own resources in the comments. I focused mostly on authors and books that all back up my points.

So please, choose a side, and I hope, desperately so, that you choose side 2: to stand against genocide and for the rights of all human beings to live and exist without fear, to have access to all the necessities for a thriving life on an habitable planet.

We are running low on time, so I’m begging you to choose wisely. Thank you.