On Diagonal Quantifiers; 8 of 9

8.    Diagonal Quantifiers in Hashtag Politics

Diagonal quantifiers apply to hashtag politics. Consider the hashtag #BLM = “Black Lives Matter”. This hashtag denotes an aspiration, not a description. Its implicit protest message is that as things are, black lives do not matter.

          A Wilsonian hashtag would be: #SBNALM = “Some but not all lives matter”. That is a cynical description of political reality. Its aspirational opposite: #ALMOND = “All lives matter or none do”.

          Actually, I think that, in the long run, #SBNALM is an overclass aspirational delusion, and #ALMOND is the gritty reality. Eventually, the value of human life isn’t variable, it’s constant.