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Core: …since Trump’s election, according to The New York Times, the organization’s annual budget has grown threefold and its lawyer staff has doubled—but only
by finiteseries 4y ago
Core:
…since Trump’s election, according to The New York Times, the organization’s annual budget has grown threefold and its lawyer staff has doubled—but only four of its attorneys specialize in free-speech issues, a number that has not changed in a decade.
Instead, the ACLU has expanded its services—and filled its coffers—as it takes partisan stances or embraces dubious causes. Meanwhile, when it comes to the red-hot culture-war issues squarely within its wheelhouse, such as the right to free, albeit hateful, speech on campus, the ACLU has stayed largely on the sidelines.
- Clubber 4y agoIt seems our corrupt political class has rotted one of our most venerable institutions. Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. I'm not an overly religious person, but this seems to ring true as much today as it ever has.
- colpabar 4y agoI think it's more than just the political class. It seems like the entirety of american culture revolves around the idea that everyone should want to get rich by any means necessary.
- Loughla 4y agoIt's like those pictures of bulldogs from the early 20th century. They look like real dogs, they don't have the health problems, and they just seem to be better. But then it becomes a competition. There is a public standard for success. And now we have flat faced monsters that can't breed on their own and need surgery just to breathe. We're just seeing the natural progression of American individualism. What used to mean - be strong in the face of adversity, work toward a positive goal, and bring others along once you make it, has become a monstrosity. Winning means amassing resources, regardless of the steps you take to get those resources. Oh, and don't forget to pull the ladder up after you, because if someone else wins, you lose. What we're seeing is the evolution, the simple, natural evolution of stoic individualism taken to the nth degree.
- zmgsabst 4y agoI think the timeline of mass media, public relations weaponizing psychology, and consumerism being the focus of media messaging are relevant to that change — rather than it being the inevitable outcome of stoic individualism.
- Loughla 4y agoI think those are just further extensions. When all that matters is winning, and my own winning, the psychological outcomes of weaponized marketing literally don't matter. When my corporation selling things is what matters, and my success is what matters this quarter, rampant consumerism and the inevitable impacts on society/the planet don't matter. Honestly, I do believe it all comes down to the cultural individualism as the prime component of success. Other countries have the same PR, mass media, and consumer goods, but don't seem to have the same cut-throat attitude to absolutely everything in their lives.
- bitwize 4y agoAstronaut 1: Wait, America is based on toxic individualism, and winning at others' expense? Astronaut 2: Always has been...
- colpabar 4y agoI completely disagree. I think this is the result of the war on the middle class and how expensive it has become just to stay alive in america. Social media platforms also promote the hell out of "grindset" accounts, or accounts that are just rich people doing expensive activities, and I refuse to believe that these trends that appear overnight are actually organic at all. It feels like we're being conditioned to hate poor people.
- nullc 4y agoACLU mostly killed itself through a disastrous mishandling of succession.