As someone who knows quite a few people like this, they are every bit as dumb as you think they are.
this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2026
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ITT - a lot of people making things up. The flag combo is funny and nationalist pilled.
Contradictions to be found.
"I'm white, male, and Christian! Surely the police state isn't for me!"
And don't call me "Shirley."
It's only cognitive dissonance until you remember that police obeys whoever has money, just the way libertarians and ancaps love
That mf def doesn't have enough money to have that stance mean anything to him though
Shh, don't tell him that, you'll break his fantasy of the big bad gubmint being the only thing between him and being the next melon musk
Someone explain pls?
Non-nuanced explanation: Top flag - pro-cop. Bottom flag - libertarian, "anti-government". You can't be both.
...You can but only in a really shitty way.
Which likely largely applies to the guy flying these flags.
Blue Line flag: "Authority should tread on THEM" Gasden flag: "Authority should respect ME"
I think Lindsay Ellis has a video that catalogs a lot of video of drunk conservatives who have behaved badly and are getting arrested, and their shock and horror that they do not get a free pass for being from the right "team".
There absolutely is a large segment of our society that implicitly believes that they deserve rights and that others are 'too dangerous' and deserve harsh oppression.
I think a lot of us further on the left forget that the concept of equal rights is fairly new to our species, and that humans will readily absorb 'rules for thee but not for me' - especially when it's encouraged by 24/7 propaganda outlets that we can't stand to watch.
I think a lot of us further on the left forget that the concept of equal rights is fairly new to our species
With the fucked up part being large sections of the right believe that if someone else starts getting more rights (that they themselves already have) it means they now have fewer rights because they're being taken away.
When in fact, they still have more rights than the other group, they just don't have as many more as they used to
Same thing applies to finances a lot as well "I don't want a burger flipper making $15! I only make $16 and I'm a (other job)!"
Like yes, but that means you're both being underpaid. Them getting paid enough to live doesn't mean you get paid less, if you feel your skill deserves more money, then fight for that money, don't hold other people down to keep your frail sense of superiority alive.
If the burger flipper makes $15 an hour then the price of a #10 value meal will go up to $14!!!
Well, they didn't get a raise and the price of a #10 is just about $14 🤷🏻♂️
Sure, I suppose I can make an attempt...
In modern internet culture, it's an overwhelmingly common[^1] practice to mentally classify things with as few labels as possible (ideally just one label), ignoring the possibility of misclassification or nuance.
Applying that practice to the flags in the photo, the meme author ~~likely~~[^4] mentally classified each flag like this:
- Thin Blue Line flag = Pro-authority
- Gadsden flag = Anti-authority
Because the possibilities of misclassification and nuance are ignored, we can assume that these labels are correct.
Because the labels are correct, we can assume that it is actually the owner of the flags who is confused – not the meme author, nor us beholders/doomscrollers with whom the meme resonates.
Thanks to the logic of our "chain of assumptions"[^2] being correct, we can feel validated because our team wins again, and their team loses again[^3]. We are drawn to this feeling. We are more likely to upvote things that make us feel this.
This sort of mindset is not only socially acceptable, it is strongly encouraged[^1].
Footnotes
[^1]: Example: This post has 640 upvotes and 5 downvotes. (By the way: Those 5 down-voters are alt-right, Trump-supporting, boot-licking, racist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, misogynistic, fascist nazis[^4][^3].)
[^2]: There might be an actual name for this. I'm just making this name up without bothering to research because I assume that most readers won't care.
[^3]: Warning: If you are wondering, "How?": Stop. It is socially unacceptable to ask this. It can only mean that you disagree[^4], and you risk being shunned and classified/labeled accordingly.
[^4]: This is considered correct because the possibilities of misclassification or nuance are safely ignored.[^3]
I downvoted it because I don't like when people misuse or overuse the phrase "cognitive dissonance".
🤔 I was probably supposed to use one of those "/s" things somewhere, but not quite sure where it would fit.
I have no idea who the downvoters are, or what they believe in. I assumed that was obvious, and acknowledging that would have worked against the joke/example/theme/etc. of the rest of the post.
The entire thing is just an observation and sort of a "caricature"-style example/demonstration from the perspective of a guy who has never been much of a social media user. My social media skills are far below average. I should probably improve on that since I've been visiting Lemmy a lot more lately.
Anyway, just imagine an "/s", "jk", etc. wherever it makes sense. I mean no harm to anyone.
I appreciate the high effort.
Source?
I can't seem to find the original source, sorry. This one has been sitting in my memes folder for about 5 years, but reverse image search has it bouncing over reddit since then.
Of all the art that was definitely made by a furry
This was definitely made by a furry
That almost feels like one of my neighbors, barren trees of winter, but it's probably Michigan or something. There's so many like this, it's disgusting.
So.. Could someone explain to us non-americans?
The top flag is the 'thin blue line' flag, which promotes the idea that police are the only thing standing between civilization and a murder-happy anarchist dystopia. You'll generally see this flag and ideology attached to right wing authoritarians.
The lower flag is the Gadsden flag, which features a defensively positioned rattlesnake and the words, "Don't tread on me." It was originally a symbol of the colonial independence movement, but the Confederacy used it extensively during the civil war, causing association with the South. It eventually became associated with small government libertarian and anti-authoritarian types in later years, but never lost its association with the Confederacy. More recently, the Republican party started associating themselves with the Gadsden flag both due to their pro-deregulation stance, which they have tried to advertise as them being the party of small government, and as part of The Southern Strategy, an attempt to lure disenfranchised racist voters in the South. As the Republican party as moved further and further to the right, the Gadsden flag has sometimes been used as a neo-fascist symbol. There have been attempts to reappropriate it by anti-authoritarian and anti-fascist groups, however.
The rattlesnake flag is, in my opinion, a flag that had amazing symbolism for what it represented. A defensive rattlesnake gives plenty of warning, and when push comes to shove, will defend itself and its territory. Then, it got picked up by a group of people who act though and Brave, constantly threaten people, then run away or panic at the first sign of push back.
Yeah they should get a new flag with an angry lemming on it, extremely aggressive but not really a threat, and basically just irritating.
I knew an "anarcho-capitalist" who believed that cops should be the only service the state provides, to guarantee fair and free market competition or some bs like that.
You can inform them that what they're arguing for is a 'minarchist' or 'nightwatchman state'.
It's still nonsense but at least they'll call themselves by the right label.
It's always fun to ask these types difficult questions that they haven't thought about.
So if somebody burns your house down in an arson attack and is subsequently arrested by the police, that's a job done is it, you are not requiring any additional support, compensation, or assistance. The fact that the miscreant has been arrested is good enough for you is it?
Libertarian view would be the private versions of those things exist.
Communist view is that everyone will help take care of you because it's the right thing to do.
The people I've talked to with that belief system typically hold that it's not specifically the police who should exist, but include the justice system to an extent.
So they would have the courts force them to make it right to you, and end there.
If you didn't have the ability to weather the calamity that's your fault for not having insurance or a fire department subscription.
It's a stupid position, but I can at least get behind getting rid of a punitive justice system and focusing more on restoration. I just also like things like roads more than I'm offended by the abstract concept of theft via fiscal policy.
Ancaps are hilarious.
"Please tread on everyone but me, daddy!"
100% this.
"Don't infringe on what I determine to be my rights; but abduct/kill anyone I determine to be an enemy"
The freedoms they don't want treaded on: being an unrepentant racist homophobic asshole.
Enemy in this case being determined as being anyone with brown skin, women, arbitrary list of people they don't particularly like, political adversaries, and anyone with an IQ greater than that of a sea pickle.
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