As the GOP attack on women’s reproductive health reaches a boiling point, damn near every commentator I’ve heard refers to the future as something out of “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
I live in rural Virginia . . . red rural Virginia . . . my county and the surrounding counties are reliably 65-35 Republican. I know a LOT of Republicans and Tea Party leftovers as well as a few people who are so far right as to be un-labeable (if that’s a word).
Over the past week, I have been asked by seven of my Republican friends “WTF is this ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ that all you Democrats are talking about?” The people asking this question are not ignorant or uninformed. In fact, Sweet Thing and I have never watched a single episode of Handmaid’s Tale, Game of Thrones, or any other of these made-for-millenial fantasies, including Harry Potter. And, believe it or not, I suspect we are in the majority.
When we project a made-for-TV fantasy onto real-life events, we leave a lot of the people we are trying to influence shaking their heads. If the people you are trying to convince do not share the same frame of reference as you, you will not convince anyone of anything.
This is what I do: (1) I purchase the little book “On Tyranny” from Amazon by the dozen. (2) I carry a stack in my truck, and, (3) anyone I talk with who evidences support for Trump, I give them a copy, challenge them to read it. You’d be surprised at how many I encounter a few days/weeks later and they are seriously thinking about what they just read. I’ve even turned of them away from their wicked ways.
Saturday, May 18, 2019 · 5:47:18 PM +00:00
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Old Redneck
As I expected, comments advise me to read “The Handmaid’s Tale,” etc., etc.
Now . . . here’s the rest of the story.
Last night my county Indivisible group met. We are a group of educated, politically-active progressives. We flood the local and regional newspapers with letters to the editor and op-ed pieces; we register voters and GOTV.
There were 21 people at the meeting. I passed out 3X5 cards. On one side of the card I wrote “dystopian” on the other side wrote “Handmaid’s Tale.” I passed out the cards and asked folks to indicate their definition of “dystopian” (or indicate if they didn’t have a clue) and indicate their familiarity with the Tale.
16 of 21 had no idea what “dystopian” means. 7 of 21 had never heard of the Tale, 3 had watched all seasons, the other 11 were vaguely familiar with “some story about women being forced to give birth or something like that.”
We must address the issue in terms with which EVERYONE is familiar — individual freedom; freedom to control your own life; no government interference in your choices; and the like.
But, hey, what do I know about anything.