Note: I’m not casting all Republicans as a “skin of evil” here; I feel many of them are just people trying to make their way in the world whose daily struggles and fears have been amplified manipulated by the “skin of evil”, an administration that constantly denies human rights and demonizes (as well as convinces its followers to partake in the demonization of) people who, for the most part, are also just trying to make their way in the world. I’ve known Republicans, and while the people they give their support to frighten me, most of the ones I’ve know aren’t demons.
EDIT: To be clear, I’m not saying Republican voters did nothing wrong, that they don’t deserve consequences, or that we should avoid making them feel bad. In many ways, the “skin of evil” is their collective wrongs and the way they enabled the current horrors. The evil, however, is a subset of a person (sometimes almost the whole set, though), while the “skin of evil” is the set of evil. Also, I admit I feel a bit on the availability heuristic and that “most of the ones I know” isn’t the strongest evidence.
I agree with all your points. I don’t deny or absolve them of their wrong; they should very much be aware they’re hurting people.
My definition of “demon” is Hitler/Stalin/Mao/Pinoche level, and despite the evil they do and the fact that they collectively enable “demons”, I don’t think they themselves rise to that level of evil. There are shades of gray.
I agree on shades of gray. Some are downright evil and malicious, others are uninformed, misinformed, or honestly too stupid or ignorant to care.
I just, at times, find it really difficult to care about the difference between a voter who wanted a white ethnostate, a voter who “only wanted to get rid of the bad ones,” and a lifelong Republican. All of their votes led to this authoritarian, you know?
Yeh, I feel that. As much as I try to be hippy here, I can’t disagree with that.