• keepcarrot [she/her]@hexbear.net
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    1 year ago

    I kinda love really tenuous connections between some mundane activity and grand societal aspirations. Like, there is a train of thought present, but it’s definitely not how the speaker reached that conclusion, they’re almost certainly thinking “I agree with these two things, therefore I must retroactively justify why one means the other”.

    One jumping off the top of my head is Ayn Rand saying she likes smoking because it signifies Man’s mastery over fire and nature.

    • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      1 year ago

      One jumping off the top of my head is Ayn Rand saying she likes smoking because it signifies Man’s mastery over fire and nature.

      The sheer fucking hubris of pretending all of that was somehow a thing while poisoning herself to a somewhat early grave with such pompous “mastery” was poetic, at least.

    • I feel like this is a condition brought on by conservatives hating all forms of art but then feeling left out when “artsy” folks to the left of center are able to ascribe meaning to things they might consider mundane otherwise. Because they can’t bring themselves to find joy in the same things that the artsy libs do, they only have what’s left, and those are often activities or habits which are straight up detrimental to your health. See also their association with red meat consumption and “healthy”/paleo diets, anti-mask-wearing and personal freedom, etc.