It’s been a few weeks since the election, and honestly, the reactions to it are starting to get boring. So let’s skip to the main topic of this column.
As we head into the holiday season and the new Trump administration, it’s perfectly fine for people to block each other on social media and cut each other off in real life.
More than that, it makes perfect sense and I stand by it. It’s also long past time for people to abandon X, formerly known as Twitter. They’re not running away to some scary “safe place.” They are running for peace. Conservatives have been doing this for years.
But more on that later.
The 2024 election conversation is deeper than “politics”
The biggest lie people tell themselves is that this conversation is about “politics.” Imagine that. Imagine blocking or ignoring someone because of something so outdated called “politics”.
We have disagreed about politics for generations. This is the foundation of our government system and voting system. For example, one side believes that taxes should be reduced, and the other believes that taxes are okay if they help improve the quality of life. Or whatever. Do we have different opinions about the economy? Good. Do you disagree about whether gun control is necessary? No problem. These are normal “politics” and have long been considered family gatherings worth attending.
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That’s not what this is about.
Folks, this is about core beliefs that we all hold dear regarding our identity. This is about what both sides believe people can do with their lives. This is about who can exist and where they are allowed to exist. This is about what our children are taught in school. This is about whether women and their doctors have control over their medical decisions.
This is deeper than the shallow political disagreements that many of us secretly love. This is more than the passive-aggressive social media URL sharing we’ve been dealing with since the birth of the internet.
People who look like me are the ones who want to be mass deported.
Let me put it another way. I am a first-generation family member who came to the United States from Mexico. My family is here primarily because of the Republican Party because of a guest worker program that would never be tolerated in today’s political climate.
I grew up, went to school, and lived my life with the very people you think should be part of the militarized mass deportation that Donald Trump has promised. I am them. they are me We are the ones you voted against.
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Why should I sit at the same table as my constituents on Thanksgiving and hand out stuffing?
I also don’t mean to criticize or exclude those who voted for it. I can understand why people who have no ties to that community would follow Trump’s fear tactics and vote for it. Honestly, that’s true. It’s easy to dismiss members of a community you don’t know. Now, it makes no sense for people in that community to vote for it, but everyone had to make a decision.
But I’m not going to break bread with that. There’s no chance.
Let’s be honest. Republicans have been doing it for years.
Now, let’s bring that thought process to social media. There, many people are finally ditching X, formerly known as Twitter, in favor of Bluesky, which recently surpassed 20 million users.
I can tell you from experience that many people who disengage from Elon Musk’s vision of “free speech” do so to find some respite from the constant debate and incitement that social media brings. That’s not what you get from staying in X and watching Musk spread all this nonsense.
To be sure, progressives are licking their wounds from Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss. But please keep this a mystery. How is that different from what Republicans have been doing throughout President Joe Biden’s term?
Should we just ignore the list of conservative social media safe spaces? Should we just pretend that Gab, Rumble, and Truth Social don’t exist? We don’t even name them all. Wait, didn’t someone create a conservative dating app?
And I think that also means ignoring the lucrative cottage industry of conservative media that has monopolized Republican messages aimed at creating and feeding islands of political thought.
Fox News, Breitbart, Daily Caller, and One America News Network don’t exist, right?
Conservatives didn’t spend years huddled together in digital safe spaces echoing each other, right?
Wait a minute, no. They totally did. Progressives seem to be waking up to the idea that they can do the same. Let’s not even mention the “patriots” who stormed the U.S. Capitol in 2020, excited by President Trump’s defeat.
Like it or not, we are in a situation in American politics where the debate is no longer about run-of-the-mill Republican versus Democratic policies. Anyone who believes they can share a turkey in the current environment probably doesn’t have anything important to their existence.
If so, please enjoy the discussion. The rest of you probably won’t hear it.
Louis Villalobos is Gannett’s Opinion Director. If you really want to lend a hand, try Bluesky. Honestly, who still uses names like Twitter and X?
