Once it might’ve been said that conservatives pursued lofty goals. Nonsense, sure, but still they thought they were doing what was best for everyone.
No more. Nowadays owning the libs is all they need.
From The Rolling Stone
To “own” someone on the internet is to dominate and humiliate them, and the “libs” can loosely be defined as anyone to the left of Sean Hannity.
To own the libs is to partake in the pettiest of culture wars. But moreover, to own the libs is to own yourself, no matter which side of the political spectrum you fall on. As comedian Patrick Monahan, an early adopter of the meme, tells Rolling Stone, owning the libs is “laughing as you post ‘Trump is still your President’ memes in Facebook threads while the bank forecloses on your farm. It comes down to a need for community and some kind of cultural ‘win’ [for the right] since they perceive culture to be against them at all times.”
So this is where we are, and for a moment it might seem encouraging. It could be seen as the downward spiral of conservatives.
But it’s also pretty damn disturbing. Desperate people will act desperately. And desperate and brainwashed people will do damn near anything.
Boycotting corporations that take a progressive political stance or patronizing companies perceived as right-wing are common ways to own the libs. After John “Papa John” Schnatter blamed his falling pizza sales on NFL players kneeling during the national anthem, right-wing conspiracy maven Jack Posobiec had his rehearsal dinner catered by the national pizza chain — and at least one Twitter user commented, “Eating horrible pizza at my wedding to own the libs.” When Netflix inked a deal with Barack and Michelle Obama, alt-right culture warriors claimed to have canceled their subscriptions to the streaming service in protest. Last fall, Keurig pulled its ads fromSean Hannity’s broadcast, following criticismof the Fox News host’s coverage of Alabama Senate Candidate Roy Moore’s sexual misconduct allegations. Hannity Heads rebelled against the company by smashing their Keurigs.
This is a hell of thing to face. And dealing with it is going to take decades.
The only thing to do is Win, and Win Big.
Still, I know some of these people. Guy I work with shot his $200 Yeti cooler all to pieces a few months ago.
I keep wanting to ask them for reasons. Anything they might have to say as to why they hate “the libs” so much.
To misquote Renton from Trainspotting: “There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you’ve got hatred.”