Political Activism

[EquALLity]

Some more smear ads sent to me by a volunteer.
They attack her for being a yoga instructor. Seriously?

I notice that pretty much all the ads are xenophobic and anti-immigrant. Ew.

[Red]

It's absolutely disgusting.
They don't even call immigrants HUMAN BEINGS.
"illegal aliens"
Fuck you.

Well people who sneak into a country are entering a country illegally. Using a euphamismatch doesn't change what they are.

[EquALLity]

It's absolutely disgusting.
They don't even call immigrants HUMAN BEINGS.
"illegal aliens"
Fuck you.

Well people who sneak into a country are entering a country illegally. Using a euphamismatch doesn't change what they are.

I don't have a problem with the term 'illegal immigrant', but 'illegal alien' intentionally makes them sound sub-human.

[Red]

Again, it's just a euphemism. It means the same thing, and it's part of the language. I'm pretty sure that there are people who use it and don't intend on dehumanizing them.

Look, today's euphemisms are tomorrow's insults. The term "disabled" is a euphemism for "retarded", yet if you go to a playground, you'd probably see kids calling each other disabled.

[EquALLity]

Again, it's just a euphemism. It means the same thing, and it's part of the language. I'm pretty sure that there are people who use it and don't intend on dehumanizing them.

Look, today's euphemisms are tomorrow's insults. The term "disabled" is a euphemism for "retarded", yet if you go to a playground, you'd probably see kids calling each other disabled.

Of course they are. "Illegal alien" itself sounds scary. It plays into, "THE IMMIGRANTS ARE COMING!", and the whole ad was fear-mongering about immigrants.
The ad says they don't deserve basic rights, which is in and of itself dehumanizing. So they clearly have no problem dehumanizing them.

I don't know how much you know about or follow politics, but language and rhetoric is very important. There's a reason why only politicians against immigrants say "illegal alien". It's designed to scare voters.

[Red]

Of course they are. "Illegal alien" itself sounds scary. It plays into, "THE IMMIGRANTS ARE COMING!", and the whole ad was fear-mongering about immigrants.
The ad says they don't deserve basic rights, which is in and of itself dehumanizing. So they clearly have no problem dehumanizing them.

I'm pretty sure to any rational person it shouldn't sound to horrifying if they know it''s synonymous with 'immigrant'. But I guess since most people aren't very rational, I guess that can happen.

I don't know how much you know about or follow politics, but language and rhetoric is very important. There's a reason why only politicians against immigrants say "illegal alien". It's designed to scare voters.

That pretty much proves what I said about it scaring irrational people. But in basic conversation, it shouldn't matter much at all.

ETA Those pictures you posted seem like very obnoxious, pretentious bourgeois bullshit.

[brimstoneSalad]

It's so amazing what can happen if you just get active on the local level!!!

It's pretty easy to meet local politicians if you're active. Don't get star struck!

After you discuss the money in politics law, I hope you'll have a conversation with her about nuclear power.

I'll try to find you some sources. Most of these will cover general information and theory -- not the specific case.

http://www.factcheck.org/2015/02/will-power-plant-rules-cause-blackouts/
This helps explain a bit about the debate of grid stability and operational capacity. Lower peak capacity means instability; power grids need to maintain a safety margin so they have the ability to produce more than peak consumption to avoid blackouts. Lowering that margin increases risk.

It's a serious problem to shut down power plants of ANY kind before they're replaced. Of course you know it's a bigger problem to shut down zero emission nuclear plants.

SPP estimated that its “reserve margin,” essentially how much electricity is available to meet periods of high demand, would drop well below its required minimum of 13.6 percent down to 4.7 percent in 2020 and below zero in 2024.

If we ever want to go carbon neutral, we can NOT afford to shut down zero carbon power like this. We won't likely be able to reach any of our targets as it is. Every nuclear plant we shut down means a coal plant that's IMPOSSIBLE to shut down. Or best case, more fracking (a lesser of two evils compared to coal) and new very expensive natural gas plants have to be built urgently (they certainly won't come on line before next summer).

I have to go, but I'll look for more later.
Maybe you can start a thread on it, and I'll post there (others may be able to contribute too).

[EquALLity]

^She's actually not who the meeting is with. I overheard someone at a volunteering event for her talk about this politician in our area sitting in her chair and I asked her about him, because I'd been trying to get him to support this bill about getting money out of politics.

[brimstoneSalad]

^She's actually not who the meeting is with. I overheard someone at a volunteering event for her talk about this politician in our area sitting in her chair and I asked her about him, because I'd been trying to get him to support this bill about getting money out of politics.

Well, when you meet with her later, then. Which you will.

[EquALLity]

^She's actually not who the meeting is with. I overheard someone at a volunteering event for her talk about this politician in our area sitting in her chair and I asked her about him, because I'd been trying to get him to support this bill about getting money out of politics.

Well, when you meet with her later, then. Which you will.

I hope so.
I should probably try to get to know her a little better before trying to get her to change her policies, though. After all, I agree with her on most issues and want her to win.