Although the Lexicon typically deals with concepts raised in the news or politics (which, quite frankly, can be interchangeable anymore), there are times when a new term has to be created to address something the Left is doing. And, boy (or girl as to not be sexist), do I have a term for you!
Since I’m a nerd, I attend different pop culture conventions in my fair city, and there are attendees who like to dress up as their favorite pop culture characters from superheroes to anime antagonists. Not my bag, but I’m not so much of a curmudgeon that I can’t appreciate the hard work put into their costumes.
Which brings us to the Left. Since before Donald Trump was elected in 2016, Leftists got it in their heads that they needed to identify with pop culture heroes from sources ranging from The Handmaid’s Tale to “Star Wars” to Harry Potter. The irony of that last one isn’t lost on your humble reporter, but I digress.
The term I’m about to introduce came from a discussion with a proud Leftist who viewed herself as a proud freedom fighter like the French Resistance in World War II. Of course, she was a white Midwesterner with a lot of history on her side, but not a lot of perspective.
That’s when it hit me. There are so many people on the Left who are LARPing as freedom fighters, but not really advancing freedom that much, so much so that they’re cosplaying.
Hence the Lexicon entry for this week.
cause-players
What the Left thinks it means – We have no fucking clue!
What it really means – people desperate to be seen as the last line of defense for our freedoms, but who are just pretending
Before I go any further, I need to clarify something. Cosplayers don’t typically believe they are the characters they dress up like because they’re not nuttier than elephant shit. Cause-players, on the other hand, are. They have worked themselves up into a fervor to the point they believe the country is either about to become an authoritarian/fascist dictatorship, is already an authoritarian/fascist dictatorship, or has been an authoritarian/fascist dictatorship for quite some time now.
Which begs the question of why we’re still able to hear from them on social media, TV shows, or online. I mean, call me crazy (because I certainly do), but isn’t one of the main aspects of authoritarian/fascist dictatorships silencing critics? If so, the authoritarian/fascist part of the Trump Administration is doing a shitty job because I keep hearing from these motherfuckers non-stop. And if not…well, maybe you’re not as oppressed as you think you are.
That’s really the key here. Cause-players want to be oppressed for their positions so they have a reason to take action. Even if it’s just in their minds, it’s enough to get them to take up arms (even ones they want to control through tougher laws) and fight against The Man. Or Trump. Or Elon Musk. Or whomever their bogeyman of the week is. And it truly is as random as that. Whatever trips their triggered…I mean trigger, that’s who they hate.
You know, someone should write a story where people get a certain amount of time every day to hate someone who would oppose their point of view. Something small, like…oh, I don’t know…five minutes.
On second thought, that wouldn’t work. Some asshole would think it was an instruction manual instead of a cautionary tale.
Anyway, the point is these cause-players have to pretend to be oppressed, on the verge of being oppressed, and/or are the only ones who can save the world from the madness to come. In other words, your usual Leftist savior complex where nothing is saved and only the justifications are complex. This, in turn, creates an entire world in their minds that isn’t exactly on speaking terms with reality. And, let’s just say it makes them more on edge than a coke and coffee fiend. You know, like Hunter Biden, but with more espresso.
When fanaticism meets delusion, you have really bad “American Idol” contestants, but you also get a lot of people who only need a slight push to get them to do something drastic. Like the media they consume constantly referring to the President and his supporters as fascists, Nazis, and the like. Or, more recently, having a late night talk show host get suspended for comments that could be legally actionable because he and his staff were too busy with their confirmation bias to do 3 seconds of research before accusing a MAGA member of shooting Charlie Kirk, which is…how can I put this delicately…fucking stupid on its face.
Then again, this is Jimmy Kimmel we’re talking about here. He’s about as sharp as a Nerf ball.
But to the cause-players, he’s funny, intelligent, and a supporter of free speech. It just so happens he echoes everything the cause-players believe. Funny how that works out, huh?
The problem is a) Kimmel is none of those things, b) the cause-players are dumber than a Queen Kamala the Appointed speech, and c) this creates a self-perpetuating echo chamber that runs on confirmation bias and cults of personality. They cling to every word Rachel Maddow or JoJoFromJerz or Harry Sisson says and treat it as gospel even after they’ve been proven wrong more times than the so-called “fact checkers” were on COVID.
And guess what each and every one of them say.
You guessed it! We’re living in an authoritarian/fascist regime! And since their favorite people are saying it, it must be true! And that turns into…you guessed it, cause-playing.
That’s not to say the Right lacks this kind of situation, but so far there’s only one side of the political spectrum that has taken their delusions and turned them into violent acts. (Spoiler Alert: it ain’t the one allegedly in the back pocket of the NRA.)
So, what do we do here? Talking to cause-players is like talking to a brick wall, only a lot less frustrating. And with a lot less mortar, as it turns out. Having dealt with more than a few of them, it’s not worth your time. They won’t listen to reason, facts, or even basic logic. They’re in a cult, and it will take a miracle to get them deprogrammed. Oh, and they’ll accuse you of being in a cult in an act of projection that would make IMAX look like 8 millimeter.
But there’s still a piece of me that holds out hope more people will walk away once they have a coming to Jesus moment. In the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, I’m seeing more and more people washing their hands of the Left because the cause-players are driving them away with their antics. And by antics I mean utter fucking depravity.
And when they do break free of the cult, they’re going to need love, support, and direction. That’s where you come in. Show them the human compassion they wouldn’t give you while under the influence of their cause-playing if for no other reason than to show them the Right isn’t full of complete assholes. Leave that part to me.
And if you’re a cause-player reading this, you need help, and I say that as someone who needs a lot of help. You are being sold a bill of goods that aren’t that good and only feed into a self-destructive delusion where you will always think of yourself as a hero even when you’re acting like a villain. Take it from your old buddy Tom. Or don’t. Just try to act surprised when you lose the next few elections for being on the wrong end of yet another 80-20 issue.
