Maher: “Toxic Positivity” And The Lack Of Shame and Judgment Has Led To The Decline Of Civilization By Ian Schwartz
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2022/06/04/maher_toxic_positivity_and_the_lack_of_shame_
On the Friday broadcast of his program ‘Real Time,’ during a discussion of homelessness and addiction, Maher highlighted several government-sponsored PSAs in cities like New York and San Francisco that encourage safe drug use as an example of societal decline. See photos of the adverts below.
“I think part of the problem with us not having a solution to this is there are people out there that heard you say ‘first-world country’ and went ‘How dare you?’ because part of the problem with losing civilization is when you fail to make judgments about how some things are better than others,” Maher said. “We have seen this over and over again. Nothing is better than anything else. Keeping women in burqas is just a different way to go. And it’s just not a different way to go. And having shit in the park, human feces, when you’re trying to have a little baseball game with your kids or something is just worse.”
Maher read a poster that encouraged people to feel “empowered” for “safely” using drugs: ‘Don’t be ashamed you are using.’
“Okay, that’s the first thing it says. Yes, this is part of the problem of losing civilization. Shame is part of life. We do this to everything. Toxic positivity. ‘Everything is positive.’ Everything is not positive. You should be ashamed that you are using, that might help you to stop,” the HBO host said.
“Remember defining deviancy downward, that phrase from Patrick Moynihan?” Maher asked his panel.
Maher then quoted from a billboard in San Francisco:
MAHER: That ad says ‘start with a small dose and go slowly.’ I mean it’s a how-to to be a drug addict. ‘Test your drugs using fentanyl test strips.’
This is the heroin one in San Francisco: ‘Do it with friends. Use with people and take turns. Try not to use alone.’ I love this one: ‘Change it up. Injecting drugs carries the highest risk. Try smoking and snorting instead.’
“This is what I’m always saying to the left side of the country. When what you’re doing sounds like an Onion headline, stop,” Maher concluded.
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