
Ravelry bans support of Donald Trump and his administration - slater
https://www.ravelry.com/content/no-trump
======
mc32
If they have a problem with political discussion becoming problematic they
should ban all politics rather than singling out one side of politics. It
comes across as intolerant and partisan.

------
baggy_trough
Their tolerance has reached such an impressive level that they have banned
slightly less than half the country.

~~~
jMyles
Having traveled the country by land for years and discussed this topic
frequently, intentionally, and occasionally awkwardly with at least a thousand
people, I think that you are not even in the ballpark of correct when you
surmise that "slightly less than half the country" supports this
administration (or any in my lifetime, with the exception of the brief period
following September 11, 2001).

The man received about 62,984,828 votes in 2016 out of 330 million people. As
an empirical matter, this perhaps demonstrates that a little more than 18%
supported him at that time - much more than "slightly" less than half.

There is every reason to believe that, since that time, his support has
further waned.

I'm not giving an opinion one way or another on the wisdom of precluding
particular content. But I think that it is wildly out of step with reality to
suggest that "slightly less than half the country" support the government at
all, much less this particularly unpopular and ineffectual leader.

~~~
mc32
No one counts elections like that. Not when Dems win and not when Repubs win.
It’s disingenuous but it looks good when making a point. Even Saddam or my Kim
never got 75% even when they state they received 99% of the vote.

It would be very unusual for a US pol to get over 50% of the raw population of
their district.

~~~
threatofrain
But this person is talking about language to ballpark American sentiment, not
how you think people count electoral power.

------
hirundo
This story from the knitting community seems to be politically consistent with
this one:

[https://quillette.com/2019/02/17/a-witch-hunt-on-
instagram/](https://quillette.com/2019/02/17/a-witch-hunt-on-instagram/)

I wonder if there is much overlap of the people involved. And what is it about
knitting attracts people with a particular political valence?

~~~
0815test
It's not really about knitting, this crazy politicization has infected
_everything_ at least on some parts of the internet. You can think of it as
the equivalent of people asking you why you still haven't been "born again" by
accepting the Lord God So-And-So as your lord and savior, placing all faith
into Him and living your life in accordance with the sacred texts, and telling
you how anyone who doesn't do that won't get into their religion's variety of
Heaven. The underlying self-assurance and proselytizing mentality is exactly
the same.

~~~
happytoexplain
In my experience, in casual forums, most discourse from people that involves
explicitly voicing support for Trump in a general sense also follows the
attitude you're describing. It's near-universally accompanied by very strong
expressions of hatred for one of a few named groups. And of course such
behavior naturally provokes the same attitude to be returned. In that sense,
it makes sense to ban it outright.

------
0815test
> Ravelry is a place for knitters, crocheters, designers, spinners, weavers
> and dyers to keep track of their yarn, tools, project and pattern
> information, and look to others for ideas and inspiration.

Knitters-for-The-Donald website going up in 3, 2, 1...

------
TomK32
Ravelry user here (I picked up crochet to look busy at the playground and not
think about programming more than I should) and though it would have been nice
if they had given a few examples for why the policy was necessary, I
understand and welcome it.

Ravelry is a place for crochet and knitting, if you want to discuss politics,
especially politics as erratic and divisive as Trump's, there are other places
more suitable.

------
amingilani
But Ravelry, why is "[s]upport of the Trump administration is undeniably
support for white supremacy"? They haven't made that clear at all.

~~~
oceanghost
That's the thing. I don't believe in, what I am going to call the transitive
property of racism/sexism.

I voted for Trump because Hillary Clinton tanked the candidate I wanted to
vote for-- Bernie Sanders.

That does not make me racist or sexist. Period. Full stop.

The amount of crappy stuff Hillary Clinton has done is mind-boggling. Most
notably, covering up rapes her husband committed. Either way in 2016-- you
were voting for a rapist.

~~~
happytoexplain
I don't understand why, in such a ridiculously broken system, people seem to
assume voting == supporting. I know plenty of people who thought Trump was a
better candidate than Clinton who are not sexist, racist, white supremacist,
nor just assholes. I know near-zero people who actively express support for
Trump generally who do not grapple with at least one of those traits.

------
colechristensen
>Ravelry is a free site for knitters and crocheters.

Seems like it would be pretty good for the quality of a community having
problems with politics. Trump support on social media is pretty toxic and I
challenge anybody to find something existing which they would argue would be a
valuable addition to a knitting community.

------
Waterluvian
Honest question. Is Trump genuinely an avatar for white supremacy? I was under
the impression that he's a buffoon and white supremacists have subjugated the
White House and President by citing his buffoonery.

~~~
krapp
I personally don't think he is, but in the current climate sometimes it's hard
to tell. There is circumstantial evidence for his being bigoted, from his
public statements and various lawsuits in his past (prior to his campaign) but
people disagree about the interpretation of this. He dated a black woman once.
Then again, H.P. Lovecraft was an inveterate racist and anti-Semite, and
married a Jewish woman.

It is true that the white supremacist movement has aligned itself strongly
with Trump and see him as "their man," and that his campaign was presented in
the press as something of a revolution amongst the "angry white male"
demographic, who were rejecting progressivism, globalism and their own
demographic minority. Personally I find it odd how such a revolution just sort
of sprang up out of nowhere like that, but whatever.

Maybe someday we'll get past the partisan bullshit and actually be able to
look calmly and clearly at the phenomenon that was this last election cycle
and find out just why the neo-Nazis came out of the woodwork for some
globalist billionaire huckster best known for playing a parody of himself on
television. That day will obviously not come until after 2020 at the least, or
2024 at the latest.

But I am coming to suspect that Trump is more the symptom than the disease.

~~~
0815test
I really have to object to your implication that the "angry white male"
demographic can or should be conflated with white supremacists. Just because
you find it rather problematic when a certain Presidential candidate I won't
mention by name labels y'all as "the basket of deplorables", doesn't make you
a white supremacist.

------
gridlockd
> "We cannot provide a space that is inclusive of all and also allow support
> for open white supremacy. Support of the Trump administration is undeniably
> support for white supremacy."

Big if true.

