Something I’d like to investigate is this very right-wing phenomenon of defending granular “freedoms,” like saying slurs in public with strangers, or not wearing a mask during a pandemic etc.
The easy explanation as to why they do this so often is that the boot rwers lack the intellectual capacity to reason about what “freedom” really means and how it’s not a matter of being able to do whatever small atomic action that their overlords, the tie rwers, tell them is important. The thing getting in my way of believing this easy explanation is that it’s kind of heartbreaking to think people can be that stupid.
RE: boot and tie terminology: see here
I really like this question, I couldn’t possibly get to the bottom of it but here’s a couple of half-explanations/related phenomena:
- The simple desire to own the libs. They understand what freedom and personal responsibility is, but also really, really want to DEBATE ME BRO with someone that they don’t like.
- Legitimate paranoia that one day somebody is gonna 1984 them, so they’re morally responsible for constantly pushing social boundaries.
- Virtue signaling, like the post alludes to.
