“We are among the biggest fools in history if we keep on paying people to make us hate each other.  Whether it is called by pretty names like ‘multiculturalism,’ ‘diversity’ or ‘gender awareness,’ that is what it boils down to.”

…Thomas Sowell

Gillette has recently come out with an ad that is either supposed to make me more woke, or offend my conservative sensibilities.  Before I knew how I was supposed to feel about the ad my reaction was that it was encouraging men to stand up for the little guy or the woman put in an uncomfortable position.  These are things I have always believed in and I am glad to see them get support. 

But then some conservative commentary helped me to realize that…..what? 

I have long believed that racism is amplified and made worse by those minorities who look for racism.  And sexism it amplified and made worse by women who look for an excuse to call a man, or men sexist.  This is tribalism.  Is there anything in that Gillette commercial that is offensive?  Do conservatives have to defend bullying and gauche behavior because progressives cheer a commercial that defends values we hold in common?  Do we have so few enemies in the world that we have to defend the indefensible because the “other side” got there first?

Am I supposed to be offended because in the opening lines of the commercial there are fleeting references to “Me too” and “toxic masculinity”?  Just as Rush Limbaugh used to refer to “feminazis”  there is such a thing as taking “masculinity” to a unhealthy extreme.  Should I be defending bullying or sexual harassment because the left is also opposed to those things?  Or is it a better strategy to agree where there is any opportunity for common ground and make the world a better place when and where we can, then negotiate on how to make things better were our strategies diverge.

I am struck and disappointed every time I see a conservative commentary that ridicules the left.  That is a form of bullying too.  And rather than serving any useful purpose, it makes making any kind of progress more difficult.

Would I have done the Gillette commercial in exactly the same way Gillette did?  No, but close enough.  Do conservatives have so little to work for that we have to create contention where none needs to exist? 

So, every conservative that is in favor of the bullies and inappropriate sexual behavior depicted in that commercial, stand up and be counted.  If you are still in your seat, stop looking for excuses to be offended.