first they came for
martin niemollers poem 'first the came for' is specifically about the demographics he hated the most. its not meant to be a list of victims of the holocaust but a cautionary tale of how hatred corrupts and destroys 'good people.' its sort of insulting to me how many queer people insist the poem HAS to include mention of queer victims when thats not the point. niemoller supported the nazis because he hated communists and jews the most. im sure he also hated queer, black, disabled, slavic, and romani people too, but his hatred communists and jews was a major reason he became a fervent nazi, and it got him five years in a concentration camp.
what would happen if all trans people were exterminated in the US?
well, youd still be paying six dollars a pound for ground beef, gas would still cost upwards of five dollars a gallon, and youd still be paying 3k a month in rent, and on top of all of that youd still have to work 3 or 4 jobs you hate to make ends meet, all without health insurance. you, john q cisperson, would suffer with or without trans people. whether or not we exist is entirely immaterial to your own survival....and that of the democrats.
i would bet everything i own that the dems easily take the midterms. the republicans are melting down, literally begging for votes, and somehow, the democrats cant see that theyre the clear winners here. theyre acting like theyve got no chance when its so obvious that people simply cannot take this shit anymore. everyone is sick of hatred and fascism. if the dems simply promised to protect trans people, they wouldnt just win, but win a landslide victory.
the problem is that the democrats dont work the way you think they do. they are not a left wing or even liberal party but a literal reactionary force that reacts rather than acts. the republicans brag about deporting immigrants, and democrats respond by increasing anti immigration rhetoric. if even leftist darling bernie sanders says something needs to be done about the border, then imagine what the rest of them think. there is no humane way to detain and deport immigrants, and yet the democrats pride themselves on having the most deportations and on cracking down the hardest on immigration. why? because the republicans said they wanted to deport more immigrants.
understand that theyre doing this PURELY because theyre reacting to the republicans. if the GOP didnt exist, the democrats wouldnt know what to do because they are actual reactionaries in the literal sense, unable to move in any direction without being guided by the most absurd sectors of american society. its pretty clear why the democrats consistently bow to the whims of delusional monsters, but if theyre so reactionary then why dont they react to their own bases demands?
why hasnt a single democrat this election cycle talked about restoring abortion rights? why do they avoid mentioning the phrase 'abolish ice'? why wont they condemn the genocide in palestine? why havent they supported trans rights? these positions are insanely popular right now, many of these issues being popular among both parties. Mississipi, very much a red state, voted to PRESERVE abortion rights, because it turns out when its your neck on the line, you vote accordingly.
the republicans and democrats are not two separate parties providing different political options but political actors that work in tandem to protect the interests of capital. truly progressive reform is an anathema to either, especially when the country is obviously in a recession and no one wants to admit it (otherwise it becomes real, and we cant spook the bourgeoisie!). the democrats not only WONT pursue genuine change, they CANT. that isnt their purpose or role.
niemoller was a nazi who probably hated a lot of fucking people and all it got him was five years in a camp. however, he at least had the sense to crawl out of the camps a reformed man. he spent the rest of his life warning people of the dangers of complacency and was a devoted antiwar activist. i dont think he was some firebreathing communist or anything, but i admire someone who very much fucked around and found out coming out the other side a better person.
something tells me we have many more horrors to see before the blue maga crowd have their 'first they came for' moment.