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Political opinions matter when they affect your daily life. For instance, after the Dobbs decision last year, Texas passed an anti-abortion law which made it il
by jwestbury 3y ago
Political opinions matter when they affect your daily life. For instance, after the Dobbs decision last year, Texas passed an anti-abortion law which made it illegal to terminate pregnancies even when the fetus had no chance of survival and continued pregnancy was a mortal risk to the mother. This was finally changed last month, but the situation persisted for over a year. For women at high risk of miscarriage (for instance, my sister-in-law who moved to Texas and has previously had a miscarriage), their neighbours' political opinions could actually kill them.
Perhaps it's an American thing because the American political system has resulted in a complete lack of common-sense legislation; but it's absolutely justified.
(My background here: I'm an American living in the UK. I've been consistently surprised by the number of common-sense laws and regulations that are supported by even conservatives, or if not supported, are not immediately repealed once conservatives gain power.)
- mvdtnz 3y agoOP indicated that they're disappointed that the city of Austin was not the liberal Oasis in Texas that they hoped. So they're not discussing state politics, they're concerned about the politics of the people and city. I doubt OP was expecting Austin to have different abortion laws to the rest of Texas. I'm saying I don't understand why one would be concerned about the politics of the people in the city they live in. It wouldn't even cross my mind to consider it.
- jwestbury 3y agoHonestly, local politics can still have a big impact. The city I grew up in cancelled weekend bus service because the local Republican party thought it was a waste of money. If you're a person of colour, it can change your day-to-day life significantly if you're around people of particular political persuasions (either way). If you're uncomfortable with people carrying guns into grocery stores, likewise.
- jmye 3y agoYou don’t think your neighbors’ voting habits in local elections will affect your life? There are numerous counties in Texas, for instance, that have criminalized driving a woman through their county for the purposes of getting an abortion. That behavior would make a material difference in my choice of where to live. I can’t imagine simply not caring, unless one is so wealthy that the laws don’t matter, or the kind of person who is never affected by their neighbors’ antagonistic voting.
- trilbyglens 3y agoNot to mention that even in Austin you are likey to see a few open carry dickheads per week.
- _blz2 3y agoWhy are they dickheads?
- HDThoreaun 3y agoOpen carry makes me fear for my safety. Sure, it's mostly irrational, but it still degrades my quality of life.
- _blz2 3y agoCalling someone else a dickhead for your mental issues ironically makes you a dickhead.
- HDThoreaun 3y agoIf I was the only one who felt that way sure, but I'm not. Most non gun owners are scared of guns in my experience. Open carry is frankly extremely disrespectful. I don't know what you're going to do with that gun, and I think it's a mistake to think of it as anything other than a threat. And threatening literally everyone you see is a dickhead move. Not really sure how you could see flashing your gun at every random person as not a dick move, the only reason to do it is to scare people.
- notacoward 3y agoIt absolutely is a threat. "Good guy with a gun" incidents are so much rarer than "bad guy with a gun" incidents that it would be insane to see it otherwise. Nobody knows you're not the next Kyle Rittenhouse who, in the absolutely most charitable interpretation I can think of, might not have meant to kill anyone but ended up with a body count anyway. Or the next mass murderer, whose names I will not repeat. If I walked around with an unsheathed six-inch knife I'm pretty sure people would quite rightly feel threatened, and literally any gun is more dangerous than that. So yes, "dickheads" does apply.