The downside to being a Red Pilled Liberal.

There was a time in my life when I didn't question political topics. A time when the terms Indoctrination, Leftism, and Social Justice Warrior were all completely unknown to me. A time when I would brag about my sixth grade steel drum band playing at the state capitol, with Bill Clinton playing saxophone. A blissfully ignorant time.

 All the way up to 30 years of age, I didn’t question anything political. Pretty much just voted Democrat and had an unquestioned dislike of Republicans. I knew that the Politically Correct culture existed and I thought it was just a bunch of nonsense. However, I didn’t see how it was effecting my life, my friends, or the country. I didn’t see that it was the underlying reason why I had rarely seen a comedy I found actually hilarious or a sitcom I could relate to in years. Then the 2016 election happened…

 In the beginning of 2016, I heard Trump was running for office. It was hard not to laugh and crack jokes. The only things I knew about Trump were the references to his hotels in rap songs and the few episodes of The Apprentice I caught. Which was just enough to think it was a big joke and say so in public and social media. Oh, how wrong I was.

 Predictably, as a Millennial with student debt. I was drawn to the rhetoric of Bernie Sanders. Something about free health care and college sounded good. Then someone pointed out the fact that I have student loans and asked me “If you’re not going to pay for it, who is?”. To which I retorted without hesitation, “The Government”. It was quickly pointed out to me where the government gets it’s money, taxed from my minimum wage paycheck. Common sense kicked in and suddenly Bernie’s rhetoric didn’t sound so great.

 So there I was, actively interested in politics and researching everything I could. Literally the only thing Hillary was running on was the fact that she was a woman, and she had a horrible record. Given the facts, I was definitely not “With Her”. I liked Gary Johnson, but he was just way to much of a stoner. Then there was Jill Stein. However, she was basically just the female Bernie Sanders. Ted Cruz? Just can’t do it. Bush? Not again. Who’s left?

 I had a hard time finding anything other than opinion pieces when I first started researching Trump. He doesn’t have political record, so the traditional measure for a politician wasn’t going to work. I found people calling him a racist, misogynist, fascist, and just about every “ist” in the book. All without any objective evidence to support the claims. It was during this time that I started to stumble across different lecturers, the “skeptic” community, and the SJW community.

 Suddenly most of what I had believed about politics and society in general was being ripped to shreds with undeniable facts. I started to notice that stating these facts openly was earning people the title of “racist”, “fascist”, and “alt-right”. I also noticed those same people labeling others as an “ist” of some kind. Where the same exact people excusing, practicing, and advocating bigotry toward “white” people. The double standards, the hypocrisy, and the propaganda couldn’t be ignored.

So what is the downside to being a Red Pilled Liberal? Well, it’s frustrating to say the least. Honestly at times I feel a bit like Cypher from The Matrix. Especially when it comes to entertainment. Once you’ve swallowed that pill, and you can see the the underlying message in things. You can’t turn it off. To the point where the antagonist in a child's cartoon saying “It’s time to make Madagascar great again!” really gets under your skin. The downside is the loss of blissful ignorance.