The Dehumanization of America

My experience with dehumanization and thoughts on what we can do to get our country back.

Below is a repost of a thread I published on X with a few additions.

I am a mom. My kids were harmed by government policy and my elected officials didn't care, so I ran for school board. Despite having always been politically independent, I was characterized as a "far right extremist" (also racist, white supremacist, MAGA) because I didn't want my kids forced to get shots or wear a mask and I wanted them to be back in school. When I ran, the local Democrat party repeatedly spread false information about me.

After I won, the rhetoric exploded. Women I considered close friends turned on me because they believed horrific lies that were spread about me. The local Democrat party, the teacher's union leader, and PFLAG joined forces to smear me as a bigot, in complete contravention of facts and reality. I expressed my concerns to these people about the hatred they were fomenting against me and the consequences for my children. They did not care. They ignored me and doubled down. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was looking evil in the face. I've felt it several times since.

When I sued the County for violating our constitutional rights, the County came after me and my children through its well-compensated lawyers. They put photos of my children into the court record. Lawyers for the government and Twitter worked together to seal documents showing censorship efforts by members of congress. The government and its attorneys characterized me and my clients as politically motivated extremists--Republicans who hated masks. (FTR only one of the founding members was a registered Republican, the rest were Dems and independents).

They filed papers accusing me of suing to "elevate my political profile." They believed in doing so, they could convince the judge to toss our lawsuit. They believed that characterizing us as Republicans in California would mean they could convince the court that our arguments were not worth considering (because, in their minds, Republicans are subhuman and undeserving of serious consideration).

The dehumanization of anyone espousing non-leftist views has been in the works for a very long time. The reactions from people on the left to the assassination attempt and murder of at least one innocent man are extremely upsetting, because it shows that the dehumanization process is complete, and I really don't know how we come back from this.

When people foment hatred against a person or a group and repeatedly spread biased and false stories in the media about that person or group, it shouldn't come as a surprise when that hatred turns to violence. This is a very dark chapter in our history, and the only way out is for people who think of their fellow men as less than human because of politics to reflect. The media, the government, and the political class, which work together to frame narratives on every subject in American discourse, need to tone the rhetoric way down and commit to speaking and reporting truthfully.

I am trying to figure out how to tackle the education piece, which is the most insidious element to our current discourse. Our education systems train young people to believe that they are "justified to 'resist' by any means necessary," not recognizing that they've actually been turned into political weapons. Stay tuned for a special announcement from me on a new project that I have been working on in this space.

To conclude this wandering rant, I have been fully cured of my TDS and hope that others will recognize the symptoms (e.g., cutting off friends and family over politics, experiencing physiological responses to a person's face, voice, or name) and work to shift your perspective. I look forward to voting for Trump for the first time in November.

When you see or hear people in your community being attacked and smeared over politics, don't join in. Ask questions. Ask for proof. Ask what their motivation for smearing might be. Go directly to the person being attacked and ask them questions. Every local elected and candidate I know who is not under the protection of the Democratic party in California is relentlessly and viciously attacked. It is not OK, it is dangerous, and it does not lead to any positive outcomes for our country.