alt Hacker NewsI think the pressure is just coming from behind the scenes.
The religious right knows many of their views are unpopular so they don't act in the open. They find underhanded ways to force their views onto us. Abortion bans wouldn't survive a simple up and down vote in almost any state, yet abortion bans are happening across the country.
The religious right really has their claws into this administration, and the far right has a much larger say in things than it seems like they would based on their proportional representation in the population. Things like gerrymandering and closed primaries don't help.
Replies
> The religious right knows many of their views are unpopular so they don't act in the open. They find underhanded ways to force their views onto us. Abortion bans wouldn't survive a simple up and down vote in almost any state, yet abortion bans are happening across the country.
They do act out in the open! That's why it's so maddening to see how pervasive the belief that this isn't a push from right-wing groups is. They are extremely open about their goals and about their ideological alignment, and they have been at literally every step in the process.
They're telegraphing every single move in real-time. But for some reason, people just don't really want to believe it.
It turns out, the best way to get away with a heinous agenda is not to hide it, but to be completely open and direct about it. If you tell people exactly what they want and it's horrific enough, they will refuse to believe it's true, because nobody would be that cartoonishly villainous, right?
The sex industry isn't the only area where that principle works, although (like with many "technologies") it was one of the first where it was successfully applied.
October 2021, Mastercard unilaterally imposes additional constraints on adult sites: https://www.commercegate.com/mastercard-issued-an-updated-se...
August 2021: OnlyFans CEO Blames Porn Ban on 'Unfair Actions' of Banks, Media: https://www.pcmag.com/news/onlyfans-ceo-blames-porn-ban-on-u...
April 2024: Japanese Adult content platform DLsite disables Visa/Mastercard payment after attempt to outsmart credit card companies: https://automaton-media.com/en/news/dlsite-disables-visa-mas...
It's not a sudden new thing. The financial theory seems to explain all the facts.