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EDIT: I’m a victim of rape, and my opinions expressed are largely from that of a woman who has been sexually assaulted. Before you downvote me because you migh

EDIT: I’m a victim of rape, and my opinions expressed are largely from that of a woman who has been sexually assaulted. Before you downvote me because you might disagree, or you might live in the USA and not like that I’m speaking negatively about it, please stop to put yourself in the shoes of the women in the USA, especially those who are victims of sexual assault. Please be part of the solution, not the problem. POST: Looking from the outside in - America is, at best - a sad joke - and, at worst - absolutely appalling, horrific, and terrifying. The response (rather the offensive as hell, disgusting, unbelievable lack of response) to the recent school shooting - followed by the abolition of basic human rights, less than a couple weeks later is a situation that has actually left me at a loss for words or understanding. America has, finally - officially lost is right to call itself the ‘Land of the Free’. The point where you’re arresting raped women for getting an abortion, yeah…pretty sure that’s just plain evil. No words. It’s a terrifying situation, and I don’t see it getting any better anytime soon. As a queer, transgender woman; I could not feel safer or more grateful to have made the choice to leave the USA and live here in Canada; where ‘freedom’ isn’t just a word shouted by homophobic, transphobic, gun-toting public as a reason to be hateful…but an honest-to-God way of life. We all know that these awful people will be coming after gay marriage next. I never thought I’d have to use the term ‘Christian extremists’, but what they’re doing to basic human rights is disturbing. As a woman who considers herself a Christian - I’m pretty damn sure if God had a phone, he’d be placing a call to Biden to ask if they could take ‘In God we trust’ off the dollar bills. It’s really sad how the USA can call Muslims terrorists, but ignore the terrorists within their borders. :(

nerdponx 4y ago
> We all know they’re coming after gay marriage next. Fortunately I think that will be harder to overturn, because it's on a less-shaky legal basis (as far as I know) compared to Roe v Wade. Also I think that ship has more or less sailed and society has basically come to accept it. Abortion has always been a lot more contentious. > I never thought I’d have to use the term ‘Christian extremists’, but what they’re doing to basic human rights is disturbing. This has been decades in the making, the endgame of an intergenerational propaganda campaign. They were extremists in the 80s, in the 00s, and today. What's interesting now is that the "Christian" angle is de-emphasized, and what used to be considered Christian fundamentalism has worked its way into mainstream secular conservativism (not by accident). It is arguably a longstanding American political tradition to govern according to hypocritical authoritarian religious extremist principles, dating back to literally before the founding of the USA.
- mjcohen 4y ago
  The current supreme court does not care about legal basis. All it cares about is what they want. And then they make it so.
- lostgame 4y ago
  Thank you for a considerate, well-thought-out response. I know people are downvoting me because they’re from the USA and they’re likely not ready for the truth. They can choose to be ignorant. I can pretty much guarantee no woman I know would downvote that comment, it clearly comes from the place of male privilege that got us into this mess. I chose to open up as a sexually assaulted woman, if they want to say my comment isn’t the plain-clothed truth, too bad for them. They’ll see it eventually. I completely agree it’s always been a problem - dating back to the Crusades and Witch-burnings.. I also sadly have to agree that it’s getting worse the more and more these extremist Christian views have become what the Right wing just..is, now.
  - Tainnor 4y ago
    There's this mindset that a significant part of HN readers subscribe to according to which emotions are bad in discourse and if you come out and say "I am personally affected by this, I am scared for my future and this is why", it's seen as a bad thing that doesn't satisfy "intellectual curiosity". That's a really ridiculous take on what it means to be a human being participating in political discourse, but there it is. I'm quite appalled at the fact that your original comment was temporarily dead. Of course, the same standard is somehow not applied when people are angry about mask mandates. Then it's apparently fine to be snarky, dismissive and outraged.
  - nobody9999 4y ago
    >They can choose to be ignorant. I can pretty much guarantee no woman I know would downvote that comment, it clearly comes from the place of male privilege that got us into this mess. As an American male, I'm pretty appalled by this too. If men could get pregnant, abortion would have been legal as soon as (probably before) such procedures were safe to do. Which turns my stomach. A lot. As I (and many folks I know) think, terminating a pregnancy is (or rather should be in the US) a personal, private decision to be made only by the pregnant person. In fact, as I stated previously here[0], if you don't have a functional female reproductive system, you need to shut the fuck up. And even if you do have one, if it's not you that's pregnant, you also need to shut the fuck up. It's not your business or concern. I'm mad as hell about this even though it won't affect me personally. But as you describe, it gives the lie to the idea that this is a society based in liberty. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27717240 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27717240
wizofaus 4y ago
Thanks for sharing. As an outsider (but frequent visitor with with close connections) I never felt the US deserved the moniker "land of the free" - it very much seems to be a place where any supposed freedom you might have to a live a peaceful and safe existence is so compromised by social attitudes and economic realities as to be effectively meaningless for a huge percentage of the population. If Trump had actually succeeded in retaining power after the last election I wouldn't have been shocked, and it's not hard to believe things will continue to slide in that direction. I think it's still capable of digging itself out of the current hole, but it's hard to see the US being any sort of beacon of hope and light for the rest of the world anytime soon.

nerdponx 4y ago

> We all know they’re coming after gay marriage next. Fortunately I think that will be harder to overturn, because it's on a less-shaky legal basis (as far as I know) compared to Roe v Wade. Also I think that ship has more or less sailed and society has basically come to accept it. Abortion has always been a lot more contentious. > I never thought I’d have to use the term ‘Christian extremists’, but what they’re doing to basic human rights is disturbing. This has been decades in the making, the endgame of an intergenerational propaganda campaign. They were extremists in the 80s, in the 00s, and today. What's interesting now is that the "Christian" angle is de-emphasized, and what used to be considered Christian fundamentalism has worked its way into mainstream secular conservativism (not by accident). It is arguably a longstanding American political tradition to govern according to hypocritical authoritarian religious extremist principles, dating back to literally before the founding of the USA.

mjcohen 4y ago
The current supreme court does not care about legal basis. All it cares about is what they want. And then they make it so.
lostgame 4y ago
Thank you for a considerate, well-thought-out response. I know people are downvoting me because they’re from the USA and they’re likely not ready for the truth. They can choose to be ignorant. I can pretty much guarantee no woman I know would downvote that comment, it clearly comes from the place of male privilege that got us into this mess. I chose to open up as a sexually assaulted woman, if they want to say my comment isn’t the plain-clothed truth, too bad for them. They’ll see it eventually. I completely agree it’s always been a problem - dating back to the Crusades and Witch-burnings.. I also sadly have to agree that it’s getting worse the more and more these extremist Christian views have become what the Right wing just..is, now.
- Tainnor 4y ago
  There's this mindset that a significant part of HN readers subscribe to according to which emotions are bad in discourse and if you come out and say "I am personally affected by this, I am scared for my future and this is why", it's seen as a bad thing that doesn't satisfy "intellectual curiosity". That's a really ridiculous take on what it means to be a human being participating in political discourse, but there it is. I'm quite appalled at the fact that your original comment was temporarily dead. Of course, the same standard is somehow not applied when people are angry about mask mandates. Then it's apparently fine to be snarky, dismissive and outraged.
- nobody9999 4y ago
  >They can choose to be ignorant. I can pretty much guarantee no woman I know would downvote that comment, it clearly comes from the place of male privilege that got us into this mess. As an American male, I'm pretty appalled by this too. If men could get pregnant, abortion would have been legal as soon as (probably before) such procedures were safe to do. Which turns my stomach. A lot. As I (and many folks I know) think, terminating a pregnancy is (or rather should be in the US) a personal, private decision to be made only by the pregnant person. In fact, as I stated previously here[0], if you don't have a functional female reproductive system, you need to shut the fuck up. And even if you do have one, if it's not you that's pregnant, you also need to shut the fuck up. It's not your business or concern. I'm mad as hell about this even though it won't affect me personally. But as you describe, it gives the lie to the idea that this is a society based in liberty. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27717240 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27717240

wizofaus 4y ago

Thanks for sharing. As an outsider (but frequent visitor with with close connections) I never felt the US deserved the moniker "land of the free" - it very much seems to be a place where any supposed freedom you might have to a live a peaceful and safe existence is so compromised by social attitudes and economic realities as to be effectively meaningless for a huge percentage of the population. If Trump had actually succeeded in retaining power after the last election I wouldn't have been shocked, and it's not hard to believe things will continue to slide in that direction. I think it's still capable of digging itself out of the current hole, but it's hard to see the US being any sort of beacon of hope and light for the rest of the world anytime soon.