Don't get me wrong. As an American leftist and one with no small number of serious grievances about the state of affairs in my country, there's a part of me that gets the idea of political and social revolution. I'd be lying if I said I didn't cheer the Arab Spring or admire the Boston Tea Party's actions against Great Britain back in the day. I work toward the goal of removing America's own oligarchs from their power and influence everyday. So, on some level, I'm sympathetic to the idea that taking a hard, uncomfortable stance against a "larger force that's in power" is sometimes necessary.
But this ain't that, y'all.
These militants have what I like to call "purple dragon" syndrome. They are protesting a "tyranny" that isn't real, doesn't exist. It's a figment of their wild, propagandized imaginations.
There are many tyrannies in America like poverty and the evil of healthcare as a privilege; and unchecked police brutality and misconduct and the continuance of modern day slavery in our prison systems; and the fact that the wealthy control our politicians and have more wealth than 99% of the rest of us. All of these are actual tyrannies in our country - and none of what these play actors in Oregon "rising up against" is one of them. They are seeing purple dragons. "Purple dragon syndrome" is a phrase I coined from my husband who used to work in a forensic facility for the criminally insane. When someone is divorced from the reality we all know, and believes that there's a purple dragon sitting on his/her shoulder, you can do nothing to convince them that there is no such thing as a purple dragon. It's real to them and their actions are based on that reality. And I gotta tell ya, IF what most militants and nutters in this country believe is true was ACTUALLY HAPPENING, I'd probably be right next to them to fight it.
But reality matters. And they are not aligned with it. It’s time for these little neverlutionaries to pack it up and head home to their families where there are ample snacks, tampons, clean underwear and toiletries.
Crossposted to MadisonPaige.me
Join me tonight at 6:30 p.m. EST for a live and lively discussion about the Oregon militants. Special guests on the show and welcome audience participation. Tell me what you think!