If you say that just the mere presence of a conservative speaker on a college campus makes you feel threatened or uncomfortable, administrators will bend over backwards to accommodate you. There will be “safe spaces” created in another building, student activists groups will rally around you, comforting you and reassuring you that the bad, evil person talking in another building can’t hurt you. Antifa protesters will show up and try to drive off the speaker or prevent anyone from entering the lecture hall where they are speaking–or they will destroy private and school property to intimidate anyone associated with the event.
If you say that having Donald Trump as President causes so much anxiety in your life that you can’t function–or that concern about global climate change stresses you out to the point that you can’t sleep at night–there will be thousands of internet stories devoting millions of words to your plight. Employers will be expected to accommodate your inability to come to work on a regular basis. People with “Dr.” in front of their names–but who don’t actually practice medicine–will publish research papers claiming to discover a new mental health disorder. And a few people with “Dr.” in front of their names that practice “holistic medicine” will be more than happy to prescribe anxiety medications or medicinal marijuana to help you deal with your situation.
If you say that a manufacturing facility located in your city is making you or your kids sick, plenty of politicians and activist groups will rally to your cause demanding new regulations on all aspects of that company’s operations. They will help you file lawsuits and demand expensive testing of soil, water and air to discover the “cause” of your discomfort. They will organize protests outside of the company’s plant and headquarters. And they will demand huge out-of-court settlements to “make this go away”. This is especially true if you operate a large dairy farm in rural areas that existed long before new subdivisions were built next door.
But if you say that a wind farm built near your house makes you sick, expect no support from any of those same people. In fact, plan on all of those activist groups, “doctors”, and politicians making every effort to discredit your claims. They will say that you are a “faker”. They will cite Canadian and European studies that debunk “turbine induced illnesses”. And they will suggest that you “just move” if the wind farm is such an “inconvenience”.
Belief–it’s a powerful thing–so long as it advances your personal agenda.
